Freeze
by Wormhole
Summary: With the threat of the 'Vampire type race' over and John back to normal, the Atlantis team must now find away to save Elizabeth from the Wraith before it’s too late. Complete
1. Chapter 1: The Crash

**Chapter One - The Crash**

The Puddle Jumper descended quickly and crash-landed on a sheet of ice, which cracked on impact sending lumps of it into the air. Slowly, the Jumper sank into the freezing water; the ice scrapping the underside of the ship on the way down

Inside John had been knocked out due to the forward impact and was sprawled over the control system. Elizabeth sat next to him and was in the same position.

Ronon was unconscious on the floor behind them and Teyla crawled out from underneath him. She looked up when she heard a moan and spotted Rodney getting up lazily from the floor in front of his chair. At this stage the lights began to flicker. She looked out the window and to her horror she saw they were underwater and sinking fast. Her attention was drawn to John and Elizabeth hunched over the control system.

She stood up and checked on Ronon first to make sure he was still alive before moving on to check on them.

As she reached them John was starting to come round. She put a hand on his shoulder hoping to get a response in that he was ok. He pulled back from the control panel and leaned back in his chair.

He slowly turned his head to the right so not to get vertigo and spotted Elizabeth. Teyla was already making her way across to check her condition. By this time Rodney had walked up to the front and Ronon started to stir.

Teyla couldn't see anything physically wrong with Elizabeth. But then she was facing the wall and it wasn't until Teyla looked over her shoulders to see her face, she could see blood running down the panel. She carefully turned her head to look underneath and winced at a large gash on her forehead. A bruise was already forming around it.

John had joined her and together they eased her back into the chair so they could get a good look at the injury.

Without being asked, Rodney made his way to the back of the Jumper and pulled out the medal kit from an overhanging storage section.

Ronon was now on his feet walked up to the front. "What happened, is she ok?"

Rodney had returned and Teyla took the kit from him. "It doesn't look good."

John returned to his seat, Teyla seemed to know what she was doing. She had decided to take simple medical lessons from Carson, so he or anyone else wouldn't have to rush out to the mainland every time one of her people required urgent attention. Even though, Carson often said he didn't mind, it did occasionally leave Atlantis short handed.

"The whole situation doesn't look good." He summarised as he watched Teyla place some alcohol on a piece of cotton wool to help sterilize the wound.

Teyla couldn't argue with that one. Before placing the cotton wool onto the gash, she looked at him as he moved his hands over the control sticks in attempt to coax some life into the machine. After all it was a submersible as well or at least that's what he called it. "No luck?"

He turned to face her. "None, this machine is dead in the water." He pushed the sticks forward out of frustration, "McKay anything you can do to bring her back to life?"

"Probably not. I wasn't lucky last time this happened to me remember. But I will try."

John didn't miss the fact that Rodney pulled his jacket on tighter. It was then he noticed how cold it had suddenly become. This whole planet was just one giant fridge freezer. His thoughts went back to why they had originally come to this godforsaken place.

**Next Chapter: Ancient Discoveries**


	2. Chapter 2: Ancient Discoveries

Thank you for the reviews everyone. I hope this answers one question. - Enjoy

**Chapter Two - Ancient Discoveries**

_**Before the crash**_

John was on his way out of Elizabeth's office, and almost ran right into Rodney. He held up a hand. "One second Colonel, you might like to see this."

Elizabeth looked up from her computer screen when she heard his voice. "What's that, Rodney?"

John walked back in and sat back down behind her desk while Rodney handed Elizabeth his data pad. He indicated the diagram shown on the screen. "I found this in Ancient archives."

Elizabeth raised her eyebrow. She knew immediately what she was looking at but couldn't see the importance of it. "I don't see the significance, Rodney…all I see is a picture of an Ancient outpost."

"You need to change the page."

Elizabeth tapped the screen of the data pad with the stylus. John looked over, curious.

Her eyes lit up when she saw the Ancient writing scrawled in neat blocky characters across the page. Rodney piped up from behind her. "I'm right, aren't I? It's the location of an Ancient outpost."

She continued scrolling down and nodded her head.

John snatched the pad from her hands. "Does this place have a 'Gate address, McKay?"

"Yes, the coordinates are at the bottom of the page, which you'd have noticed if you weren't so busy looking at the pretty pictures."

John made a face at Rodney, and Elizabeth took the opportunity to snatch the pad back. He frowned in protest. "Hey!"

She grinned a little before pointing out a section of writing. "You _do_ know that this is a frozen planet? If this outpost is as old as this city, it'll probably be covered in snow by now. It won't be easy to find."

"Ideal for us, then, seeing as this is supposed to be an _expedition_ team," prodded Rodney.

She couldn't argue with that one. "What do you think John?"

"Wouldn't hurt to check it out. I'm sure if there's anything left a Puddle Jumper will be able to pick it up on the sensors."

"Okay, then. We'll do a recon of this planet first. If the Puddle Jumper does pick up anything, we'll proceed from there."

Rodney practically quivered with excitement, and strode off in the direction of his labs for supplies. John chuckled quietly at the scientist's enthusiasm as he walked out behind him. For all his bluster about hating kids, he could be just like one sometimes.

"Colonel! Hang on a second, I might come with you on this one."

John turned, startled by Elizabeth's request. He waited as she gathered her things. "Are you sure? We normally check a planet out first before you come."

She looked at him as she retrieved her coffee with her free hand. "From what I read on the pad, this planet is supposed to be uninhabited, providing there are no more Ancients still around. I can't see any real danger in me being there."

"If Rodney wasn't in such a hurry to leave, I think he'd agree with me that many things might have changed between then and now."

She checked to make sure she left nothing that she needed behind before stepping up next to him. "Would you want to live on a frozen planet?" She didn't wait for him to say 'the Ancients did.' "Besides, it feels like ages since I've done any kind of fieldwork. I'll ask Major Lorne to step in for me while I'm gone."

John waved his hand towards the walkway outside her office. "After you then, Lara Croft. I'll tell Ronon and Teyla to meet us in the Jumper Bay."

"Thank you, Mr. Jones."

He smiled at her response and watched her as she walked ahead of him, and out of the Gateroom.

**Next Chapter: Surprises**


	3. Chapter 3: Surprises

**Chapter Three - Surprises**

**_Before the crash_**

The Puddle Jumper exited the Stargate, and sure enough all John could see were mountains of snow stretching off into the distance, the cold sunlight sparkling off of their sharp, unforgiving peaks.

He flew ahead for a few miles so everyone could get a good look at the sunny view before heading up into space to scan the planet from above.

He only had to circle half before picking up some readings from the ground.

McKay leaned over in his seat. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure…there's defiantly something down there, but…" He paused and turned to face Elizabeth sitting next to him. "Remember what I said about things changing between then and now?

A small crease of concern appeared on her brow. "I take it, it's not exactly what you expected?"

"Not exactly…the structures I'm picking up appear to be on the surface, and as far as I can tell they're definitely _not_ Ancient."

Rodney grabbed his data pad and hooked up the interface. "Did you say structures? As in plural?"

"Yes, Rodney, I did."

Ronon joined in on the conversation. "Why don't we go down and take a look?"

With present company, John was unsure whether to go or not. He grimaced a little. "It's not really what we came here for." If they had been on their own, he wouldn't have hesitated.

"But we _are_ here. Why waste the trip?" Ronon continued.

John looked at Rodney and Ronon in turn, and then at Teyla, who seemed a little distant. "Teyla?"

"If we take the proper precautions, I am certain that we can ensure Dr. Weir's safety."

Elizabeth understood his concern, but had faith in her Alpha team. "Don't let me stop you. I'll be fine."

He didn't need the answer twice. He shrugged. "Alrighty then. Down we go."

He brought the Jumper back down to the planet and raced across the skyline towards the structure. He slowed as they neared the location.

Ahead of them, he could see a large white dome structure, which appeared to be old and worn down, weathered by the harsh surface conditions of the planet. As they got closer he noticed that snow had captured every corner it could cling to. The other structures, just barely visible, gained more definition the closer they got.

Rodney tapped away hurriedly on his data pad, sorting through the information the Jumper's sensors were feeding it. His eyes opened wide as he scanned the lines of code. "They're…ships!"

"What? What kind of ships?" John glanced back distractedly; the Jumper was reacting sluggishly, and it was taking more mental energy than normal to make it obey his commands.

"I'm not sure; we haven't encountered them before. If we go back to the 'Gate I can send the data to Zelenka for analysis."

As he got closer to the dome, the ship began to buck violently. Everyone grabbed for something to hold on to while the rattling stopped. Rodney's data pad chimed out a warning.

Teyla sensed something was wrong. She stared hesitantly at the ship-structures. "Colonel, I think it would be prudent to pull back."

"I'm trying to."

Nothing happened.

Elizabeth raised her brows, gripping the arms of her chair. "John."

"I'm trying!"

The Jumper veered dangerously groundward, and John fought futilely with the controls.

_"John!" _

"It's not responding!"

Rodney, wide-eyed and drained of colour, tapping frantically at the tiny keypad, desperately tried to reprogram the interface pathways. John could see that it was no good.

"Hold on to something, we're going down!"

**Next Chapter: Dead Zone. **


	4. Chapter 4: Dead Zone

**Chapter Four – Dead Zone **

**After 'The Crash'**

A groan woke John from his thoughts and turned his attention to Elizabeth. She had started to come round and the words "What happened?" Came out of her mouth before she opened her eyes.

She heard Teyla's voice and winced when she felt a cold piece of material touch her forehead. "Take it easy, you took a pretty nasty knock on the head."

John answered her question and watched as she lifted her hand to feel the place the piece of material had been on her forehead. "I lost control of the Jumper and we crashed."

She removed her hand after having felt a deep cut. She looked down at the control system and saw that blood, now dry, had run down the front of it. "I guess, we should be grateful for your piloting skills John; no doubt things could've been a lot worse."

John gulped realising she hadn't yet seen out the window.

Ronon still stood behind them pointed his finger ahead of her. "You might want to lookout the window."

Her eyes widened at the view as she noticed they were sinking fast. "I'll rephrase that; things are a lot worse."

"Very much so," answered Rodney from behind. "I'm trying to re-wire the system in order to get the engines working again. It's not proving easy."

"How long has it been?"

John checked his watch. "About... Oh, that's funny hadn't notice that before; my watch has stopped."

Rodney paused with what he was doing to look at his. "Mine too."

"That can't be a coincidence, first the Puddle Jumper now the watches."

Elizabeth watched Teyla as she pulled out a large bandage from the box. "The bleeding has stopped. I'm just going to put this on to help keep it clean, it might hurt a bit."

She smiled at Teyla as she cut off some sticky tape and stuck it across the bandage before placing it over the cut. "Looks like the time you've spent with Carson has paid off."

"Let's just hope you're out of the worst of it. It's more than likely you may have a mild concussion."

"Let's hope not, the worst thing for me to do now would be to fall asleep right."

Just then the Jumper jerked and Rodney shouted with relief. "Yessss… try her now Colonel, I've cut-off life support, that should give us enough power to fire a drone and reach the surface."

Ronon along with everyone else looked at him. "Why do we need to fire a drone?"

"Urr, to break the ice, unless you have forgotten we're underneath it and I very much doubt we'll find the opening we came down in. Also we haven't enough speed to break the ice head on."

He nodded to the answer. "Good points."

John retook the controls. "Okay, guys let's break out of here."

Everyone watched the view screen as the Jumper ascended the dark waters.

After five minutes John caught view of the ice above them and fired a drone. The minute he did, the system embedded in the ceiling of the Jumper Rodney had been working on exploded, sending sparks everywhere. Soon after the engines cut out again and this time so did the lights, leaving everyone in darkness.

Everyone heard Rodney mumble. "No… No… No. Nooo."

It suddenly came to John. "A Dead Zone, I should've realised the minute the Jumper started playing up."

Teyla's voice filled the air. "What's a Dead Zone?

"A no fly zone, due to _magnetic interference._ A similar thing is happening here it only just seems to be affecting certain equipment," replied John.

"If that's the case, then we're in trouble. There's no way we can fly out of…" Rodney stopped talking when the Jumper rocked having been hit by a large lump of ice loosened by the drone. A loud crack sounded on the forward window, followed by water dripping in.

**Next Chapter: Sink or Swim**

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	5. Chapter 5: Sink or Swim

**Chapter Five - Sink or Swim**

John got out of his seat to search for the flashlight they had tucked away near where the medical kit was. In doing so he bumped into both Teyla and Rodney trying to feel his way to it. He muttered his apologies whilst doing so.

He found the flashlight, switching it on he pointed it at the front window just in time to see the crack widening even more.

Elizabeth unsteadily jumped out of her seat and backed up towards him as the glass continued cracking under the pressure.

John saw a P-90 hanging from a bracket on the wall and picked it up. He then made his way to the centre of the ship. "I hope you can all swim."

Rodney joined him. "You must be crazy, have you any idea how cold that water is going to be?"

John turned the flashlight on him and he covered his eyes from the strong light. "You'd rather drown McKay? The sooner we get out of here; the better because this Jumper is sinking again and there is no turning back this time."

He spun the flashlight round to face everyone. "Apart from McKay anyone else not happy with this before I shoot out the window?"

Ronon pointed at the hatch. "Can't we just open the rear hatch? Get out that way."

He shook his head. "If that glass goes the same time we open the hatch we'll be swamped from both sides."

Elizabeth wasn't sure about this, what with her head injury and the freezing temperatures. But seeing as it was the only way out she didn't want to let anyone down so kept quiet.

John pointed his flashlight at everyone in turn. Receiving a nod from each of them he prepared himself, aiming the P-90 at the window. "You might all want to stand behind me before I shoot."

Just at the last minute Teyla remembered something. "Colonel wait." She started to rush back to the front to retrieve the medical kit.

But John knew what she was after and stopped her midway. "Teyla, leave it. The less weight on you the better chance you have of reaching the top." He turned to look at the others, "That goes for all of you; if you have anything in your pockets I'd empty them now."

Whilst John wasn't looking, Teyla opened the case and took out some Tylenol and placed them in her trouser pocket. Ignoring the angry looks from Ronon as she turned back round.

She saw that Rodney and Elizabeth had started rummaging through their pockets.

Rodney pulled out two food bars he was about to put them back but he had mistakenly locked eyes with John who shook his head. Sighing he tossed them to the side.

Seeing they we're both finished, John turned off the safety on the P-90. "Hold on tight and get ready to hold your breath because the water is going to rush in fast." He passed the torch to Ronon who was standing behind him and then they all grabbed onto something.

He fired a dozen or so shots at the window breaking it into a thousand pieces. The water came crashing in as John tried to shout out against the noise. "Don't move till the Jumper is full of water!"

Elizabeth stood to the right of him in the doorway between the two sections and held onto the frame. But the minute a wave swamped her she felt nauseous from the sudden impact of cold water, as the large wave receded her feet gave way from the force of it.

She tumbled forward John reached out to grab her, but he was pulled down with her and both yelled out as they were swept forward with it.

Elizabeth landed on top of John as they bashed into the pilot's chair and water poured in on top of them, pinning them down.

**Next Chapter: Lifeline**

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	6. Chapter 6: Lifeline

**Chapter 6 – Lifeline**

The water was rising fast and Elizabeth choked on some as it washed over her face. She struggled to stand back up until she felt John's strong grip on her arm, as he helped.

Having lived at the Antarctic outpost for sometime, the cold temperatures she had expected the water to be was anything but. It was biting into her skin like no tomorrow; her vision began to blur slightly.

Now standing, the water was just above their shoulders. "It's… too cold," the words catching in her throat as she tried to keep her head above water.

John closed the distance between them, and wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to keep her warm. The water nearly covering them. "Get ready."

She nodded, as she caught a glimpse of Ronon and Teyla, helping Rodney getting ready to get out.

It was almost time. She took in a deep breath, as did John after which the water engulfed them. They began treading water, by this time John held onto her left hand and they followed the others out.

They had been swimming for a good minute and it took mental willpower to have swum thus far, but they were still a good few feet from reaching the opening in the surface. By this time, she'd run out of steam.

John could feel her grip loosening; she _was_ swimming along side him. His eyes widened when he could see her struggling to hold her breath. Her fingers were slowly unwinding from his.

-----

Rodney walked back and forth anxiously on the surface. "It's been too long; they should've surfaced by now."

As though John heard him, his head popped out the water along with Elizabeth's. John breathed in the air whilst Elizabeth coughed out the water.

"Give us a hand." Asked John grabbing the edge of the ice as he helped Elizabeth stay above water.

"What the hell happened?" Asked Ronon as he and Teyla moved in to help them out.

Elizabeth placed both her hands over Ronon's and he pulled her out. She muttered quick thanks, and then moved behind him to sit down.

"Oxygen deprivation." Answered John as he was pulled out.

"What's the plan now?" Asked Rodney.

John collapsed onto his back. "Let's get our breath back first Rodney."

"Fine, just don't take too long over it. I don't fancy freezing to death out here."

Teyla looked up at the sky and she could see darkness falling. "Doctor McKay is right, we should find shelter. It'll be dark soon and it's going to get colder."

"And I don't want to die of hypothermia," finished Rodney.

John rolled his eyes and sat back up.

He could see that Elizabeth had wrapped herself up into a ball and was shaking. It must have come as a big shock to her; one minute everything had been fine only to wake up in a sinking Jumper, next fighting for her life in the freezing water.

He walked over and knelt down level to her. "Hey, are you okay?"

She looked at him. "No, no not really. My head hurts, I'm absolutely frozen, not to mention soaking wet _again_."

He grinned a little. "Well, you should know if you're ever with me on a mission to always expect the unexpected. I'm a magnet for trouble or didn't you know that?" He teased.

"I'll remember that for next time."

"Come on, night is beginning to fall and the others are keen to leave before it gets even colder."

Elizabeth nodded and John offered his hand to help her up.

Once she was up, she wiped the snow, from her already wet trousers. "Where are we heading to?"

"The dome we saw before we crashed."

"That place looked creepy."

"Unfortunately the Stargate is located on the other side of this planet, so for the moment it's our only option."

He started to walk back to the others to say they were ready to leave when she called him back "John."

He stopped and turned round. "Yes."

"Thanks. I don't know what I would've done, if you hadn't pulled me out."

"Don't mention it."

**Next Chapter: The Awakening**

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	7. Chapter 7: The Awakening

**Chapter Seven - The Awakening**

Night had fallen by the time they had reached the dome.

Rodney found the entrance, and Ronon pushed the large rectangular doors open. With a creak of protest from them, he finally succeeded.

Not surprisingly it was dark inside, but John found the power supply for the lights next to the entrance and turned them on. Illuminating, the large rusted panel grated floor, situated a few inches above the snow. The place didn't appear to have any windows.

Everyone covered up their nose as they walked in further, Rodney being the first to point out the obvious. "It stinks in here."

Teyla moved some metal slabs aside. "The air is stale. This place hasn't been used in ages."

Inside, the place was covered in machinery.

Four long metal tables near the back of the room; various artefacts sitting on top of them and what looked like the nose of a large type drill head hang down from the ceiling in the centre of the room.

John walked up underneath it and looked up at it. "Something's been going on in here."

"Could be mining equipment?" Questioned Rodney as he stood by the activation panel for the drill head. He pressed one of the switches and the machine powered up.

John leapt out of the way as it started turning. "WATCH IT RODNEY!"

"Sorry," he replied switching it of, "At least we know it still works. Not that it'll do us much good."

To the left of the entrance not far from the door, Teyla spotted something situated within the wall, just about the same height as her.

She moved over and on closer inspection noticed a small hatch, "Ronon, take a look at this." She pulled it open. There were some buttons on the wall to the right of the door and she pressed the top one, nothing happened so she tried another. Flames shot up inside the tunnel. A smile played on her lips, as she looked at Ronon. Then called out to John, "John, you might want to see this!"

Along with Rodney he jogged over to them.

Elizabeth stayed near the drill head and looked more closely at the panels in the floor.

"What have you found?" Asked John as he reached Teyla and Ronon.

"Some kind of heating system. The tunnel veered off to the right, I'd say it goes right round the building."

Ronon had moved over to the right off the entrance. "There's another door over here," he opened the hatch and true enough flames raged on inside.

Rodney started playing with the other controls and quickly learnt how to adjust the flames. "If we keep it at this level, this place should heat up in no time."

The noise of metal against metal made everyone turn around and look back towards the drill head. Elizabeth had removed one of the floor panels underneath it. Carefully she placed her left hand down on the snow, her suspicions had proven correct underneath the layer of snow laid a heavy-duty blanket and she began to pull it out.

She was so busy with the task she hadn't noticed the others had joined her. Ronon moved up next to her and gave her a hand; whilst John, Rodney and Teyla removed another three other panels covering it forming a large square.

A hole was uncovered but it didn't down go very far, as there was more snow in the way.

"What was the point of covering something like this up?" Questioned Rodney as he put his panel down.

"I would say the hole was covered back up. Looking at the mess around here whoever used this place left in rather a hurry," replied Elizabeth as she stood up, "And I think we should do the same as soon as possible, I don't like it."

John started to put the panels back. "Well we can't do much tonight, lets say we get some rest then we can work out what to do in the morning."

-----

Unknown to them, tunnels lay beneath their feet. Alcoves situated within the walls, the ice covering them slowly began to melt.

**Next Chapter: Unexpected**

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	8. Chapter 8: Unexpected

**Chapter Eight – Unexpected.**

As the ice continued to melt, a man inside one of the alcoves slowly began to move.

He clenched his right fist tightly as he began to feel the heat rising through his veins.

His blue bloodthirsty eyes snapped open; unable to move his head he scanned what he could of the vicinity. But all he could see was the ice, entombing him.

Mustering as much strength as he could, he rammed his fist into it, smashing himself free.

He then leapt out and looked around.

He could see the reason why the tunnel wasn't as dark as it should've been and why his alcove had melted more than the others.

His was posted directly under the heating valve connected to the piping system and along both sides of the walls lights were posted all along the top, which meant, for them to be activated 'he looked up' the place above him must be in use.

Showing his mutilated teeth he grinned and began to search for a way out by following the lights.

-----

As he followed them, he could 'just' see the other people trapped inside their alcoves and hissed. "Sticking prison, I'll make them pay for the years of torment they've put us through. Soon brothers you shall be free."

-----

Above ground oblivious to what was happening underneath them, the team sat round near the fire. Jackets lay on the floor drying under the heat.

Until Elizabeth felt better, they'd all agreed to stay awake and keep each other company.

Despite John's disproval, that she had ignored him about bringing anything with her, Teyla revealed the Tylenol she had tucked away, but on the brighter side of things he was grateful and Teyla could see it in his eyes.

Teyla gave one to Elizabeth to help relieve the headache she still had.

John could see Elizabeth was looking a lot livelier as she was laughing at Rodney's imitation of a pig.

Not surprisingly Teyla and Ronon couldn't see the logic behind the game but that didn't stop them from laughing at Rodney's expense.

Rodney had decided to keep the night rolling, by playing 'Guess the Movie' and seeing as he wasn't allowed to speak whilst making a fool of himself he had to imitate it, he'd already given away the other clues he could.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when the sound of lightning struck the dome and he ended up sprawled on the ground having been on all fours. "What the…"

John got up of his feet and ran to the doors and pulled them open, a blizzard raged across the horizon, lightning struck again in the far distance illuminating the snowy peeks in the far distance. The others had joined him. "This is all we need, if it's like this in the morning lord knows how long we'll be stuck here," he turned to face Rodney, "Oh, and I'm guessing the movie was supposed to be Babe."

"You guessed right, which means it's your turn next," he grinned playfully.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow in Rodney's direction; she'd expected him to go for the Sci-Fi approach.

John closed the doors and they moved back to the fire.

Before John could even start his turn, a loud whistling noise penetrated the air. Making everyone cover up their ears.

Pieces of metal on one of the four tables started rattling as though something underneath them was trying to get out. John moved over for a closer look, indicating for everyone to stay put.

He was just about to lift up one of the slaps of metal, when a black sphere the size of a 'tennis ball' sprung out of hiding and hovered above him. John eyed it suspiciously, that was until the whistle intensified to a shriek and it flew across the air until it hovered just underneath the drill head.

Suddenly the noise stopped and the sphere fell to the ground shortly followed by a loud explosion.

**Next Chapter: Smoke and Mirrors**

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	9. Chapter 9: Smoke and Mirrors

**Chapter Nine – Smoke and Mirrors**

The explosion created a thick cloud of smoke, which covered the centre of the dome from top to bottom 'the dome being three times the size of the one at the Antarctic outpost on Earth'. A silhouette of a man stood amongst it.

Once the smoke cleared the silhouette remained; almost shadow like with the exception of the blue eyes and mutilated teeth showing. But its appearance was human form.

Rodney was the first to break the silence as they all walked over to the location. Like everyone else he was surprised by the sudden appearance. "Now I've seen everything."

The stranger's voice echoed throughout the dome. "I take it you people activated this place?"

"It would seem logical considering were the only ones here." Replied Rodney sarcastically but unintentionally.

Elizabeth glared at him before turning back to respond to the stranger. "Who might we be addressing?"

"The name is Torlian and you are?"

"Were explorers, I'm Doctor Elizabeth Weir and this is my team. We crashed here by accident and waiting rescue."

"Crashed?"

"Into the water," responded Teyla.

It was John turn to ask a question. "Don't suppose you might be able to help us out, regarding our current situation? We need to find the safest way back to the Stargate."

"Stargate?"

"Yes," replied Elizabeth, "the Ancestral Ring on the other side of this planet."

"Not by myself I can't, me and my people have been stuck here for a long time."

"Looks like we might be able to help each other…" Elizabeth sentence was cut short when Torlian responded.

"The only help I need right now, is freeing the rest of my people and transportation of this rock"

Elizabeth was taken a back by the sudden statement and turned to look at John standing behind her, only to see him shrug his shoulders to the answer.

When Elizabeth turned back to face Torlian she was surprised at his next move and stepped back when she saw a small black cylindrical device appear in his right hand. "A little something I stole before my incarceration."

John immediately pulled Elizabeth behind him for protection, guessing the device that Torlian was holding was a weapon of some kind.

"Incarceration, you're a prisoner?"

Torlian turned to face Ronon. "I was, big guy. But not anymore thanks to you people for activating the dome."

"A prison complex," whispered Rodney who was standing next to John.

"Why?" Questioned John, "and for what purpose?"

Rodney was about to answer his theory but stopped, when for a second he could've sworn that the shadow shifted, kind of like out of phase for a second. He looked at the team to see if anyone else had noticed.

He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted when a second bolt of lighting struck the dome.

Elizabeth spoke before him. "Maybe we can talk about this rationally, with out the need for violence." She indicated the device in Torlian's hand

The device found its way in her direction or rather at John as he was still blocking her path.

"I take it you're the representative around here, seeing as you're doing most of the talking?" He asked trying to read her face.

She didn't have time to answer; standing near Torlian, Ronon took the opportunity and kicked out with his left leg in an attempt to knock the device out of his hand.

But Torlian was too quick for him because Ronon's target vanished. Leaving Ronon and everyone else except Rodney a little shell shocked. Just before his disappearance everyone failed to notice duplicate shadow behind Elizabeth, being she was at the back of the group, until it was too late.

The shadow fully transformed into a man. "Let's talk about this somewhere private shall we, I can't hold this solid projection for long?"

John whirled round at the sound of Torlian's voice; only to find Elizabeth had vanished.

**Next Chapter: Tricks of the Trade**

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	10. Chapter 10: Tricks of the Trade

**Chapter Ten: Tricks of the Trade**

Elizabeth found herself being dragged down some icy tunnels. "Where are you taking me, you said you wanted to talk?"

"And we will all in good time."

She eventually found herself facing the alcove Torlian had obviously escaped from. "This was your prison cell?"

"Fancy trying it out?" Spoke Torlian.

She wrapped herself up, finding it rather colder at her present location. She'd gotten used to the fire.

"Why have you bought me here?"

"Like I said so we can talk in private, without any interruptions from your people"

"We would've been happy to negotiate terms rather then kidnapping me down here."

"Maybe, but I don't want to jeopardise any opportunity of freeing my people. Especially after the amount of time we've been cooped up here."

"With the stunt you just pulled, you probably have. My people won't tolerate this kind of action, you're playing with fire."

He laughed at the statement. "Sounds like I picked someone important. It doesn't matter, your people won't know where to start looking for you."

Elizabeth followed his finger as he pointed to the ceiling. "We're underground."

"That's right, the perfect place to hide."

He was probably right, they wouldn't know where to look. But she knew darn well they wouldn't stop trying.

She let the matter drop for now and changed the subject. "How did you do that? Transport us like that."

"I used this little device," he waved the black object in his hand, the item they thought was a weapon, "knew it would come in handy, I can project a reflection of myself as you saw above."

He showed her by standing in two places at once, his original form in front of her and a shadow of him behind her.

The original spoke. "Which of me would you say is the original?"

Confusion etched across her face and nodded at the man in front of her and watched as he disappeared.

She stumbled a little when she was pushed from behind but regained her balance.

"Wrong, I can transport my true form into the projection and become whole again as you just witnessed."

"That's what I did above, my true form was underground, whilst my double if you like was above. Once I knew which of you was more valuable as a hostage, I made my move. Not only can this device do all that but also…" he tapped another switch and he was back to where he started. "Rebound back to my original location and whoever is in contact with me at the same time is transported to, but they cannot rebound because they didn't have a projection setting.

"It can do other things too, but best not give all its secrets away."

Amazement was written all over Elizabeth's face. Had she not seen it with her own eyes she wouldn't have believed it. "I take it the sphere was your doing as well?"

The man started to laugh. "That was simply a case of mind over matter."

"So why me?"

"If you knew the crimes we've committed you wouldn't have helped us. But now I have you, your friends won't have any choice but to help if they want to get you back."

**Next Chapt****er: Shadow of the Night**

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	11. Chapter 11: Shadow of the Night

Thanks for the reviews so far everyone. Enjoy :)

**Chapter Eleven - Shadow of the Night**

Now knowing the device wasn't weapon, she took the opportunity and swung her right fist at him, landing it square in his face and as luck had it he was unprepared for the attack.

He stumbled back from the unexpected blow and dropped the device to clutch his bleeding nose. It was a sensation he hadn't felt in a long time and he savoured it.

Elizabeth quickly moved in and gathered the device up of the cold surface.

She could here Torlian cursing 'you'll pay for that' at her, as she ran back the way they'd come.

Reaching the entry point and trying to keep herself calm, Elizabeth tried to remember which of the five buttons Torlian had pressed.

She hit the lowest first, not sure if it was the right one because a 3D dimensional image of the above appeared in front of her. The others were appearing as shadows. She guessed the device must work both ways as she could see someone looking at her.

-----

John was annoyed at himself for not being more vigilant of the stranger, McKay had seen something was up but never had the chance to say until it was to late. They had no idea where Torlian had taken Elizabeth or why he had.

John never saw the guy but from Ronon and Teyla's description, having caught a brief glimpse of him. He was well built and muscular with no hair and judging by the teeth and eyes he certainly wasn't human.

It was then his thoughts were interrupted when another shadow appeared. He recognized the image straight away. "Elizabeth?" The others turned to look in his direction having been trying to find the seemingly non-extinct exit point where Torlian could be hiding.

She acted as though she hadn't heard. "John, if you can hear me… I'm underground; I don't know how to use this properly, it wasn't a weapon but a projection device."

John watched as Elizabeth turned to look behind her, "He's here, listen use the drill…"

Her sentence was cut short, when the image faded.

"Drill-head," finished Rodney, "Of course, the hole Elizabeth found earlier. The prison cells must be down there."

-----

Torlian grabbed the device from Elizabeth before she could say anymore and then returned the blow she had inflicted on him earlier, only he hadn't expected her to go down so easy.

She'd landed face down when the blow came, her head connecting with the floor.

Torlian slowly bent down and turned her over slightly, not only could he see the nose bleed but the white material she had on her head had turned red as an old wound reopened. He looked at the floor and blood had seeped through and noticed the 'black ice' she hit her head on.

"Well, I guess this means no more trouble from you for a while." He licked his lips before showing his fang like teeth for the first time.

He then took the device in his hands and then turned it back on.

**Next Chapter: Bait**

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	12. Chapter 12: Bait

**Thanks for posting the reviews; you've persuaded me to post this chapter a little earlier then planned, hope it lives up to the last ;) Enjoy.**

**Chapter Twelve – Bait**

John clenched his fists tightly when Torlian reappeared, not long after Elizabeth made her appearance. "What've you done?"

"If you value your friend's life you'll do as I say, any deviation and her life will be forfeited."

"You haven't told me what you've done, what happened?"

"She's unconscious at the moment and will remain that way until the following demands have been meet."

Rodney's eyes went wide and he spun his head round to face Sheppard's fearing the worst and then turned to face Teyla after hearing her voice.

"Unconscious, how?"

"First things first, I want you to turn the heating system up to full in order to melt the remaining ice entombing my brothers and then provide transportation of this rock."

"How can we provide you with transportation, if we are stuck here ourselves? Asked Ronon.

"Our ships, are they still outside… did you see them when you crashed?"

"Yes we did," answered John, "only what's left of them, that is."

"What's left?" Questioned Torlian.

"Like this dome, they are eroding from the conditions of this planet."

"They wouldn't be able to fly anyway, the reason we crashed was due to some kind of magnetic interference, which I'm beginning to understand what's causing it."

It was John's turn to look at Rodney. "How?"

"It's just a theory, but remember the lightening rods we used to protect Atlantis from the storm?"

Torlian's head cocked a little, hearing the name Atlantis.

"All too…. " Realisation hit John like a ton of bricks, "you're kidding me?"

"I wish I were. It would certainly make sense for the magnetic interference and why this place has survived for so long."

"So you're saying?"

Rodney looked at Ronon, forgetting he wasn't around at the time of the Genii siege. So he tried to explain it to him. "You know Atlantis has a shield, right?"

"Yes."

"Back when we first arrived we were low on power, we had no way to charge up the shield to protect us from the oncoming storm."

"That was until we found the lighting rods," interrupted John.

"Yes, we meaning me."

John wanted to wipe of the smug look of Rodney's face, "and Zelenka."

He glared at him and John gave him his flyboy smile.

"Yes anyway, every time lightning hit one of those rods it gave us enough power to active the shield momentarily."

"The same thing is happening here?" Finished Teyla, catching on to what Rodney was trying to say."

"Something similar yes," he paused to asked Torlian a question, "Torlian do you know how long these storms normally last?"

"From recollection, they can last for many days."

Lightning hit the dome again, causing everyone to look up.

Once the crackling sound died down, Rodney pointed his finger upwards. "Providing this place with enough power to keep the field or should I say shield up 90 percent of the time. We must have passed through it at its weakest point had we hit it full on, we probably would've been vaporised."

"Enough of this!" Yelled Torlian, "turn the heating system up. We can sort out the other problem later."

It was John's turn to settle things. "Listen, will be happy to help you out just let us have Doctor Weir back and we can work on this together. We both want to get off this planet."

"I'll consider it once I know I can trust you. You don't know how long we've been cooped up here."

Teyla tried to compromise "At least let one of us go back with you, so we can check if she's ok. She wasn't well when we got here and the fact you said she's unconscious again isn't good sign."

Torlian considered the request knowing if his hostage did die, he wouldn't have a bargaining tool. But having two would certainly work in his favour. "Very well, but only one of you."

"I'm her commanding military officer, it should be me."

Torlian looked at John. "Okay, but try anything stupid and you both die."

John nodded in agreement, allowing Torlian to transport him underground.

-----

John spotted Elizabeth lying face down in the snow and he was immediately by her side.

He first checked her pulse, which thankfully was still beating strong. He turned her over to lay her on her back and could see the blood covering one side of her face. "That's not good at all," he muttered to himself as he moved his left hand to touch her forehead, noticing the nosebleed. He shot Torlian a disappointed look now knowing what caused her to collapse again, only to find he'd vanished.

He turned back when he could feel Elizabeth was running a fever. "I'll get you out of this I promise."

It was then a creature what looked like a bat flew overhead.

"John."

Surprised to here her voice, John tried to sound comforting. "I'm here Elizabeth."

She 'started' to open eyes to look at him. "Don't make promises you can't keep."

**Next Chapter: Meltdown**

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	13. Chapter 13: Meltdown

**Thanks again for the reviews. Here's the next chapter, I hope I didn't catch too many people out on the last;). Enjoy**

**Chapter Thirteen - Meltdown**

"I wouldn't have made it otherwise. Besides, if I don't get you out of this, I'm going to be stuck with your job until the SGC finds a replacement and just imagine the mess I'll make of it in the mean time."

"It's not that hard, besides you might have to, unless you can find away off this planet soon, I don't think I can hold out for much…"

John put a finger to her lips to prevent her from saying anymore. "Don't think like that okay, a promise is a promise and remember we don't leave people behind. By the way, McKay reckons he knows why we crashed."

She tried to tease. "Resident genius umm."

"The storms are creating the magnetic interference, which is what caused us to crash into the shield protecting this place, the lightning is powering that shield."

"There was no storm when we arrived."

"Which is why we survived the crash, the shield was at its weakest point but the magnetic interference was still there due to the intensity of the previous storms. McKay said had we hit the shield full on, we would've been vaporised."

"Not his exact words, but I think that's more or less what he tired to say. What about you Elizabeth did you find out anything?"

"I found out where the prison cells are, it was the first thing Torlian showed me."

"What did they look like?"

"Like freezer chambers, there are hundreds of alcoves lining these tunnels. All the prisoners are supposedly criminals."

"Criminals no doubt Rodney is about to release."

John noticed Elizabeth tremble a bit. "Hey, what's up?"

"Cold."

"You're running a fever, might be why, not to mention the fact we're surrounded by snow here." John took off his Jacket he'd picked up earlier and wrapped it over her and she pulled it up to her chin. He then ripped off one of the sleeves from his sweatshirt so he could apply pressure to the head wound to try and stop it bleeding, once the soaked bandage was removed.

"Now, I'll promise to get you out of here, if you promise me you'll stay awake okay?"

Elizabeth nodded. "It'll be down to you to keep me awake."

"Think I can manage that, now where should I start? How about this, are you seeing anyone back on Earth?"

The only answer he got was a lump of snow thrown in his face and despite her condition she managed to hit him square between the eyes. "I'll get you back for that, later," he said as he wiped his face.

An idea came to him as he did. He quickly removed his sleeve from her forehead and grabbed a handful of snow from the side of Elizabeth.

"You call that later." She mocked seeing him grab the pile in his hand.

"Humour me, this might sting a bit, I'm just going to put it over the cut to try and freeze the blood flow."

She jerked her head away as he moved forward. "You sure that's a good idea?"

"Can you think of a better way?"

"Go ahead."

"Thank you. By the way, did you have an answer to my previous question?"

----

Rodney was about to turn the heating system to full when Ronon put a hand on his shoulder. "You sure this is a good idea?"

"If you want to see Sheppard and Weir again yes."

"Why don't we just use the drill-head like Doctor Weir suggested?" Asked Teyla.

"It'll make too much noise and if Torlian hears, he'll more likely kill them because we deviated from his demands."

Rodney shrugged off Ronon's hand and turned up the heating system.

----

"It's a deal then… If I get us out of this mess, you'll go on a date with me?"

"Agreed. Mind you, wish you told me sooner how you feel instead of leaving it till the last minute."

"Didn't want to pass up on the opportunity."

Just then the bat type creature, which had been flying around landed on John's shoulder. He wacked it off with his free hand when he felt a sting on the side of his neck. "Arghhh, Son of a Bitch."

Elizabeth tried to sit up, but John placed his hand firmly on her right shoulder keeping her down. She tried to move it away but he wouldn't budge over so she relented. "You okay?"

John checked the base of his neck and felt two small puncture marks. "I'll live."

**Next Chapter: Unexpected Rescue**

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	14. Chapter 14: Unexpected Rescue

**Keep the reviews coming and I'll keep the chapters coming - as and when I can that is ;). Enjoy :)**

**Chapter Fourteen – Unexpected Rescue**

Teyla stared at the hole in the ground, wondering how far down it went. "Doctor McKay. How long do you think it will take, for the heating system to melt the ice below?

"I've got no idea, but it must've been a good few hours before Torlian showed his face, if he was in hibernation, I'd say another two before his associates wake up."

"Something tells me we haven't got that long," replied Ronon, whilst thinking about John and Elizabeth.

"What if we don't use, the drill-head to re-open the hole, what if we dug it? Torlian wouldn't be able to hear us and if he doesn't show up in the next few hours, we might be able to give him the element of surprise."

Ronon took Teyla's idea to mind and started looking around the room for something they can use to dig with and found what looked like spades tucked away behind some old machinery. "We could use these, more then enough for one each."

Rodney looked from Ronon to Teyla. Seeing he wasn't going to get out of digging he grabbed one from Ronon and Teyla took the other. But then he thought of something, which might help them and moved back over to the heating system.

Ronon called out to him. "McKay, what are you doing?"

"Buying us some time." With that, McKay turned the heating system down a bit, after which return to the digging spot. Only to find his spade hit metal instead of snow, just after lightning hit the dome.

-----

"John. How long do you think it's been since we arrived here?"

"Hard to say, since our watches have stopped. At a guess, I'd say at least five possibly six hours, why?"

"One hour overdue our check in time with Atlantis. With any luck Major Lorne will send a search and rescue team soon."

As if on queue, John's radio crackled into life and Elizabeth's eyes lit up with hope, when she heard Caldwell's voice trying to contact them. "Th… Cald…. Daed...s…, we h… Doc… Mc…, Ronon, Tey… on boa…, ther… is too much… inte… to be… you out."

"We must be too far underground, for them to get a lock on us." Questioned Elizabeth.

John nodded and tried to relay the message to Caldwell; he ended up repeating it twice to make sure their situation was clear.

As he did, the bat type creature, which flew past earlier hooked its claws into the ceiling above them and folded its wings. Then listened in on the conversation.

The response came through, which was just as muffled as the first time. "Dr. McK… is… look… at th… prob…, will ge… back… to yo… out."

"We can always count on Major Lorne to sense trouble on the horizon," smiled John as he terminated connection.

"He obviously knows you better then I do, when it comes to a mission then."

"I'll remember that for next time."

----

"Hermiod. Tell me again how you beamed us out with the shield up around the dome?"

"We found a weakness in it, every time lightning strikes, a hole is opened for just a few seconds, that gave us enough time to beam the three of you out."

"I'm sensing a but."

"We couldn't get a lock on Lt. Colonel Sheppard or Doctor Weir."

"McKay, any luck with the transporter?" Asked Caldwell as he entered the room occupied by both him and Hermoid.

"Give me time. I've only just started working on the problem."

"Well, you might want to hurry things along a little. From Sheppard's information Doctor Weir isn't doing so well."

"How bad?"

"Bad, he can't stop a head wound from bleeding this time and she's running a fever."

Rodney's face once again drained of colour hearing the news and tried to concentrate on his task as Caldwell continued talking.

"We've relayed the information to Doctor Beckett back at Atlantis and informed them to have the infirmary staff on stand by."

"Good thinking, " replied Rodney as he disappeared behind a console, with a tool in hand.

Teyla's voice came in over the radio. "Colonel Caldwell, I've been asked to inform you we have Wraith Hive Ship heading our way."

"How far out?"

"Approximately half hour sir," came the helmsmen's voice.

"That close?"

"Yes sir."

"I'm on my way," Caldwell terminated connection and turned to speak to Rodney, "half hour McKay."

All Caldwell saw was a thumb's up from behind the console.

**Next Chapter: The Wraith**

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	15. Chapter 15: The Wraith

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**Chapter Fifteen – The Wraith**

"How did they get so close?" Asked Caldwell as he entered the bridge.

"Unknown sir. They are coming into visual range, now."

The crew watched as the Hive ship drew nearer. "Sir they've just opened fire on the planet."

"I can see, open a channel."

"Channel open."

"This is Colonel Caldwell of the Daedulas, stand down your assault on the planet below or we will retaliate."

Caldwell looked at the helmsmen to see if they received a response. The helmsmen shock his head.

"Bring us about, and return fire."

"Yes, sir."

The Wraith Hive ship broke off its attack on the planet, when the Daedulas blocked its path and returned fire. It was then the lead male Wraith contacted them. "We have no quarrel with you today. Move aside so we can destroy this planet or we shall open fire."

"What reason do you have to destroy that planet?" Challenged Caldwell.

"That is none of your concern human. But know this, if it is not destroyed here and now the death of millions will be on your head, you have five minutes to leave this system." With that the communication ended.

Rodney heard the conversation over the communications band and activated his earpiece to talk with Caldwell. "Something sure has them spooked to come all this way just to destroy a planet, then turn tail without a fight."

"Question is what, I've never known them so scared before?" Responded Caldwell.

"Sir might I suggest, I think it could have something to do with the prisoners down there. Maybe they know something we don't."

"Agreed," supported Ronon to Teyla's hypothesis, "it's unusual for the Wraith to act in this way, by giving us a choice to leave."

"Well, we can't let them destroy that planet while Lt. Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Weir are still down there. How's the maintenance coming along Doctor McKay?"

"I'm going as fast as humanly possible, if not faster. Sheppard and Weir are too far underground to be beamed out with the current settings and the shield surrounding the dome isn't helping." He paused as he fused two wires together.

"I'm trying to boost the range of the transporters to enable me to get a lock onto them. We just need to hope the storm keeps up so we can get another opening in the shield when the time comes."

"Tell me when you are finished, Caldwell out."

----

As the ground stopped shaking from the bombardment above, John pulled back from Elizabeth, having protected her from the falling snow. "Are you okay?"

"Something tells me that wasn't an Earthquake?"

"I think you might be right."

It was then they heard Torlian's voice. "By the sound of things your friends failed to heed my warning." Elizabeth looked at John, then Torlian who stood behind him.

John slowly got up after giving Elizabeth the piece of material so she could hold it in place herself, as the snow hadn't worked. "Who are you people, really?"

"That's none of your concern. You haven't found a way off this planet. But I have. I want you to contact your ship in orbit. Tell them to expect us."

"I'm not contacting anybody pal."

Torlian looked behind John and mockingly waved the small black cylindrical device at Elizabeth. "Remember, Doctor Weir I told you this device holds many secrets."

Not to be dissuaded Elizabeth tried to stand up, using the wall for support. John stepped back to give her a hand. "I remember Torlian," she said in disgust.

"Allow me to demonstrate."

The ground beneath their feet began to vibrate.

"Torlian what are you up to?" Asked John trying to keep his and Elizabeth balance as the vibrations increased.

"Powering up the ships systems."

"Ship?" Spoke John and Elizabeth in unison.

"You honestly don't think that the snow and ice are the only reason I'm still alive do you?"

"What type of ship Torlian?" Asked John.

"I'm surprised you didn't recognize the alcoves," he laughed, "It's a Wraith ship."

"I've never been inside a Wraith ship till now," replied Elizabeth looking apologetic to John, "the snow and ice covering its identity didn't help either."

"Well. I'm about to send your friends a little message, by using the ship's weapons."

**Next Chapter: Truths Be Told**

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	16. Chapter 16: Truths Be Told

**Chapter Sixteen - Truths be told**

"Wait, if this is a Wraith ship, then what's with the others outside?"

"Oh, they're our ships all right. But when we heard of a crashed Wraith ship in this area, we couldn't resist the opportunity to study its technology."

**Flashback**

We roamed this Galaxy long before the Wraith or The Ancestors showed up.

My time came just at the height of the war between the two rivals.

But before my time, when the Ancestors showed and began building gateways to others stars. Our race became scattered as we used them for means of transport to others worlds in order to grow in numbers.

We stumbled across this Wraith ship on our travels. Its inhabitants were in hibernation. We studied the ships technology so we could learn and adapt our own. But whilst doing so…

"You awakened the Wraith." Interrupted John.

"Yes we did, unintentionally."

We hadn't anticipated the Wraith being formidable enemies. Their strength and weaknesses almost rivaled our own.

We learnt they couldn't feed on us what with our genetic structure equaled to their own in almost everyway. They feed on living flesh, where as we feed on blood.

"Which I might add, you we're lucky Doctor Weir. If it weren't for the fact you had a fever you probably wouldn't be standing here right now. The temptation to feed is just as strong as it would be for a Wraith. Especially after so long."

They became scared of us. A race, which couldn't be destroyed their natural way.

They considered us a threat like any other race, just as we did them. Only we were vastly out numbered despite our abilities. We fought back, but as you can see from the results…

"You lost," finished Elizabeth.

"Yes, we did."

They used a virus to destroy most of my kind and for those of us that remained, they imprisoned us to study us just as we did them. They used the remains of an outpost abandoned here long ago and built the protective dome above to warn people away.

**End Flashback**

"Explains, why you wouldn't come near me while I've got a fever."

"Trust me, had I known your current state I would've taken someone else but as you witnessed yourself it's not easy to differentiate individuals with this thing."

It was then white light engulfed them and both John and Elizabeth found themselves on the bridge of the Daedulas.

"Did it work?" Came Rodney's panicked voice over com system.

"It worked McKay, good job."

"Caldwell, I advise you vacate this area immediately," Informed Elizabeth as she let go of John to lean on the forward console.

"We're just about to, we have a Wraith Hive ship on our doorstop whose owner isn't in a pleasant mood."

"Might have something to do with our new buddy below who's getting ready to open fire on us, using weapons from a crashed Wraith ship."

"Incoming weapons fire." Warned the helmsman.

"Get us underway!" Yelled Caldwell as the first shot from the planet was fired at them.

They narrowly missed the shot and it collided with the Wraith ship in front of them. Who returned fire on the planet.

Elizabeth turned to watch the view screen, which had proven to be a mistake. Immediately feeling dizzy from the sudden motion she passed out, coming inches to hitting the floor before John caught her.

The ship engaged hyper-drive. The planet exploded soon after, taking with it both Wraith Ships.

**Next Chapter: Two Weeks Later**

Thanks for all the alerts and reviews so far. That's the last chapter for the moment; **DON'T PANIC!!!** The best is yet to come ;)


	17. Chapter 17: Two Weeks Later

**Thanks again for the reviews. Well, I'm back up to speed with the chapters, so here is seventeen. Hope it's gripping enough ;) Enjoy.**

**Chapter 17 - Two weeks later**

Having entered her office, glad to finally be allowed back to work, Elizabeth was surprised to find Major Lorne still at her desk rather then Sheppard or McKay.

Lorne stood to attention the minute she entered and offered her seat back. "Glad you're back, Ma'am."

"Thank you Major, might I enquire why Sheppard hasn't taken over or Doctor McKay?"

"Ma'am, McKay said he had other important things to do," 'sounds like McKay' she thought. "And Sheppard refuses to come out of his room, only on the odd occasion to get food at night time so as not to interact with any of the staff."

"That's why he didn't come and see me in the Infirmary; Carson informed me he didn't even have a medical check up when we got back. Hasn't anyone tried talking to him?"

"He wouldn't talk to anyone when questioned about it, not even to Doctor Heightmeyer, she tried on several occasions. We figured he just needed some space after what happened on the planet."

"Which reminds me; I still need to thank you for sending that rescue team when you did."

"Just doing my job."

"Well, I guess the first job for me now I'm back is to see what's bothering John."

"Would you like me to join you? He wasn't very cooperative when we tried."

"That's okay, Major. I'll call you if I need assistance."

"Very good Ma'am."

With that, she left the office and made her way to John's quarters.

----

Arriving at his quarters Elizabeth knocked on his door. "John, it's Elizabeth I know you're there, please open this door, we need to talk."

No response.

"John!" Still nothing, "John as a friend I'm asking you to open this door before I order you to open it."

After a few seconds silence, she heard something being smashed against the wall and then John's voice bounced off them. "It's not safe to be hear, Elizabeth." Another object was thrown.

She tapped her earpiece. "Security and medical teams to Sheppard's quarters."

She turned her attention back to John. "Let me in; then we can talk about what's bothering you. The others say you've hardly come out of your room since we got back from the planet and Carson informed me you failed to tell him of the bite you got."

"My problem, not yours."

"When it comes to the safety of this expedition it's mine."

Two security men arrived as John threw another object in the room. She contacted the Control Room and ordered the lock to his room to be overridden.

She slowly entered, with the security team flagging her.

Looking around, the place was a mess. Her eyes soon fell on John who was standing in the back corner of the room, getting ready to throw another object. The guards immediately drew their stunners.

He paused his actions and turned to her. "Damn it Elizabeth, don't you ever listen!"

"I take my own chances when it comes to the safety of those I'm responsible for, John."

"You should've thought about that, before coming to that planet with us."

Those words hurt Elizabeth but she chose not to show it, not in front of everyone here. "Meaning?"

"Meaning, I wouldn't be in this state if it wasn't for you." With that, he let loose the object in his hand by throwing it against the wall, hard and fast.

"Then talk to me, tell me what the problem is." She noticed the medical team including Carson had arrived and he could see it too.

An evil grin was pasted on his face and he stalked forward towards them. "You want to know what my problem is?"

His eyes started to glow blue as he advanced forwards.

**Next Chapter: Changes**

_Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!_


	18. Chapter 18: Changes

Thanks again for the alerts and reviews, looks like someone has found me out already ;).

Not much of a cliff-hanger this time, but next time.

I've posted this now as I might be going away for a few days. But will post again when I get back. For now, Enjoy :)

**Chapter Eighteen - Changes**

The guards immediately let loose a volley of stunner blasts, it took a few before John collapsed.

Carson rushed forward to check John's vitals before ordering his staff to transport him to the Infirmary under-guard.

He then turned his attention to Elizabeth who was still standing a little shell-shocked, "Are you okay, lass?" She didn't move. "Elizabeth."

She shook herself out of it. "I'm fine Carson. It was just something he said. Maybe he's right, I shouldn't have gone on the mission without the all clear first."

"Whatever he said, you couldn't have known what was to happen love, don't doubt yourself. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a patient to attend to," he paused in the doorway, and then turned round. "Maybe you should come too, whatever has affected John could well have affected you."

She nodded and followed Carson quietly to the Infirmary.

-----

When they arrived, John was already on one of the beds being hooked up to the various pieces of equipment. One of the nurses was taking blood samples whilst others made sure he was comfortable.

"Take a seat love, we'll be with you in a minute."

She nodded and jumped up onto one of the beds next to John. "Carson, you might want to check the bite on his neck first."

He nodded and turned round to see where Elizabeth had indicated. The bite was inflamed; it also looked like John had been scratching it, looking at the nail marks on his neck. "Bloody hell. Nurse, pass me some disinfectant, will you please; I need to clean this up."

"Yes Doctor."

Carson took the disinfectant from the nurse once she had returned and he started cleaning up the wound. "Let me know the minute you have the blood results back."

She nodded, "Doctor, should I do Doctor Weir's blood test too?"

"If you'd be so kind. That reminds me, best call the other three who were on the mission here too for blood tests. Best be safe then sorry."

Elizabeth could hear their conversation from her bed. "I'll do that Carson," she activated her earpiece. "Rodney, Ronon, Teyla. Please report to the Infirmary for a medical check-up ASAP."

She looked back up at Carson "Doctor, could we have an outbreak on our hands?"

"I don't think so love, I didn't find anything when you all got back from the reckon mission. I'm only rechecking you all just to be sure, due to developments with the Colonel..."

"Who didn't have a check up then," finished Elizabeth.

"Aye."

Teyla and Ronon were the first to enter the Infirmary. "We got the call, what's up?" Asked Ronon.

"Take a seat you two, Nurse Campbell will be with you as soon as she's finished with Doctor Weir."

Teyla nodded to Elizabeth when she saw her sitting on the bed. Then saw John. "Is something wrong, Doctor Beckett?"

"Just taking precautions, looks like John's been infected with something back on the planet, just need to take some blood samples to make sure none of you have caught it too."

It was then Rodney strolled in. "This had better be good Carson, I was in the middle of an important experiment."

"Everything is important with you McKay."

Rodney glared at Ronon.

"Best do McKay first Nurse. Keep the boy happy."

She pulled the syringe from Elizabeth's right arm and placed a piece of cotton wall over the puncture mark and indicated for Elizabeth to keep it in place. "You're done Ma'am."

"Thank you," she took hold of it and jumped of the bed. "Safe to leave Carson?"

"Aye, just don't over do it."

"I won't, keep me informed of any developments will you."

"Will do."

With that she left and Rodney took her place on the bed and rolled up his sleeve ready.

Teyla watched as Elizabeth left, without so much as a word to them. Concerned for her friend she walked up to Carson. "Is something bothering Elizabeth, she doesn't seem her usual self?"

"I think she just needs some space at the moment, she's been through a lot these past few weeks. Especially now with this latest incident back at the Colonel's quarters."

"Did they have a fight?"

"Came close to one, the Colonel just said some pretty nasty things, I fear had she not called for backup she could've been the one lying here."

"That would explain the security guards in this room," pointed Rodney.

**Next Chapter: Night Shift**

_Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!_


	19. Chapter 19: Night Shift

Did someone say messed up? ;) Okay, got time to post this one last chapter then legging it for a few days. Enjoy :D.

Oh, and if you haven't guessed already… Nah, I'm sure you know what monster it is by now ;) If not, the name will be coming in the next few chapters.

**Chapter Nineteen - Night Shift**

John slowly opened his eyes as he regained consciousness and watched, as Carson walked over to him. "Evening, feeling better Colonel?"

"What happened, I feel like I've been hit by a bulldozer?"

"Stunner blasts actually, no one counted how many."

"Reason?"

"You don't remember?"

"Enlighten me Doc?"

"Because you threatened Doctor Weir for the current state you're in."

"Carson I'd never do that, you know me."

Believe me John, you did. I was there towards the end of the discussion and witnessed it. Although I'm not so sure you were in the right state of mind when it happened."

"Is she alright?"

"A little shaken up I think, but otherwise ok."

John started scratching his neck "Can I see her?"

"I wouldn't go knocking on her door anytime soon. I'm sure she'll see you when she's ready."

Carson spotted his discomfort, "Is that bite still bothering you?"

"Yeah, it stings like a thousand needles."

"You know, had you told me about that when you first got back; you probably wouldn't be here now. I had to re-check the others to make sure they didn't carry the infection, at least I think it's an infection."

Carson moved round to the left side of the bed to take a look at the bite. He started to remove the bandage covering it, when John grabbed his wrist with his right hand.

The security guards got a bit cautious when it happened but wasn't quick enough to react.

John jumped off the bed and twisted Carson's arm round in a throat lock and ordered the men to drop their weapons.

He watched as their 9mils fell to the floor. "Kick one over!"

The left guard did so, John slowly bent down to pick it up, dragging Carson down with him.

As he gripped it in his hand, the other guard went to retrieve his off the floor but John had his and fired before he did.

"Bloody hell." Cried Carson as the shot went off.

The other guard rushed forward to tackle John but he shot him down mid-stride.

Carson struggled out of his grasp and turned round to face John and saw his eyes were glowing blue again. Then his world went black.

------

Elizabeth was working late in her office, when she got the call from Carson.

"Doctor Weir, this is Carson. John's escaped from the Infirmary and is armed."

"When did this happen?" She asked as she got up from her chair, alert mode kicking in.

"He jumped us sometime ago, be advised he could be on the way to you. He asked about you before it happened."

"Under…"

Her last sentence was drowned out by the sound of gunshots and screaming, "What the?" Elizabeth rushed towards the noise.

She got halfway across the walkway leading to the Control Section when the gate activated and she could see Sheppard at the Controls, with a gun in one hand.

Two Gate technicians and a security lay either dead or unconscious.

"He's here Carson, I'll call security."

"Already done, whatever you do don't approach him. Something is happening to him, I don't know what."

She let Sheppard go down the steps towards the Gate, and then quickly moved in to raise the shield, noticing Earth's Gate address lit up on the dialling pad.

It was then Rodney's panicked voice sounded through her mic "Elizabeth, someone has rigged the ZPM to overload," the city's alarms then sounded.

John got to the Gate when the shield activated.

He spun round and fired.

**Next Chapter: Overload**

"_Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!_


	20. Chapter 20: Overload

I'm back, hope I didn't keep everyone waiting to long? ;) Thanks again for the reviews and alerts much appreciated. Here's chapter 20. Enjoy :).

**Chapter Twenty: Overload **

Elizabeth screamed and stepped back as the bullet struck the glass, which didn't break on the first shot.

John fired again as he made his way back up the stairs. A second attempt being more successful and the glass sprayed everywhere.

Elizabeth ducked from the shards of glass as she moved towards the nearest exit she could see, only to find it blocked by Sheppard. His face full of rage, eyes glowing blue.

She slowly raised her hands in an attempt to prevent another shot from being fired. "Why are you doing this John?"

"I'm not the John you knew, lower the shield."

She shook her head. "Then who are you?"

"I'm the beginning of the end." It was then he showed his fang like teeth.

Elizabeth's eye's widened in horror.

-----

Major Lorne ran as fast as he could towards the Control Room as soon as he got the call, meeting up with other members of his team on the way.

Nearing the room they heard the commotion, "move it!" Yelled Lorne.

-----

"I won't ask again, lower the shield."

"The John I know won't fire."

"I already told you, I am not he."

"Then prove it, you can't miss me this time."

"I…I."

She could see confusion written on his face, and took the opportunity to try and break through the barrier. "Fight it John," she slowly lowered her hands and walked towards him, "we can help you."

John looked at the gun, finger closing on the trigger, as she got closer. He removed one hand from it to rub his neck.

It was then Lorne and his men rushed in surrounding him from behind weapons raised.

This provoked John into pulling the trigger.

Everyone froze as the shot was fired.

To Elizabeth, it felt as though her whole life flashed past within an instant and during that time she could've sworn she heard Carson's voice penetrate the air. _"We're loosing her… John move aside."_

Not believing one of her closest friends could be driven to such madness.

It wasn't till she heard the clatter of a gun touching the floor, she realised she was still standing. The shot had deliberately gone wide.

She looked at John with disbelief in her eyes, as the light in his faded.

Confusion masking John's face as Lorne's men arrested him.

"Take him to the brig." Instructed Lorne as the marines escorted him out of the Control Room.

Sheppard never taking his eyes off Elizabeth's till she was out of site.

Lorne stepped next to her. "Ma'am, you okay?"

Elizabeth looked at him. "I'm fine Major." It was then Rodney's voice echoed over the system wide intercom. "I can't stop the ZPM overload, I've been locked out of the system."

Elizabeth activated her earpiece. "Rodney this is Weir, how long?"

"Ten Minutes, then we're toast."

**Next Chapter: Countdown**

_"Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!"_


	21. Chapter 21: Countdown

Thanks again for the reviews, here's the next chapter. Enjoy

**Chapter Twenty One - Countdown**

"Can you not stop it Rodney?"

"Not enough time. Eight minutes."

Elizabeth rubbed her eyes, if things couldn't get any worse, she activated citywide. "Attention all personnel, prepare for immediate evacuation."

It was then Chuck entered the room. "What's going on?" He stopped when he saw the answer to his own question. "Bloody hell."

"Chuck. Contact the SGC, tell them we're leaving Atlantis."

McKay's voice came back through. "Elizabeth is the Gate active?"

"Yes, it's in direct contact with Earth's Gate."

"Shut it down."

"WHAT! We're about to evacuate."

"We can't not to Earth, it's drawing to much power from the ZPM speeding up the overload, when it explodes the force of the explosion could follow through to Earth, effectively wiping out half of Cheyenne Mounting before you reach the other end."

She sighed and turned to Chuck. "Cut power."

He hesitated. "Ma'am

"Cut it! Dial a Pegasus address." He did as instructed and people started filling the room.

"Six minutes!" Yelled McKay.

"McKay, leave the Power Room and get to here as quick as you can."

-----

Lorne's team heard the call too and turned about to the Control Room.

John twitched trying to remove the irritating itch on his neck. Unable to reach it easily with his hands tied.

They'd just about reached the Control Room door, when John jumped them and ran back down the corridor. "Colonel!" Yelled Lorne.

He was about to run after him when McKay's voice came through again. "Four Minutes."

----

Elizabeth too heard it and called him again. "McKay, I told you to leave the Power Room." People started leaving via the Wormhole.

"I can't, I'm trying to give you as much time as possible. It was nice knowing you Elizabeth, look after yourself." With that the communication was terminated.

"McKayyyy!"

"Ma'am," came Lorne's voice came over the radio, "Sheppard has escaped you want us to go after him?"

"Not enough time, get back here and get through the Gate." It was then she saw Teyla and Ronon coming into the room as two Puddle Jumpers cleared the event horizon after everyone else had left.

Just after that the Wormhole started to fluctuate and the power began to fade.

Chuck saw Ronon and Teyla too. "Go with them Ma'am, I'll hold the Gate open for as long as possible from McKay's last countdown we've only got two minutes left."

"Come on." Called Ronon as he pulled her towards the Gate.

It was her turn to hesitate.

Chuck nodded to Ronon who he picked her up and they moved to the Gate.

**Next Chapter: Separate Ways**

"_Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!"_


	22. Chapter 22: Separate Ways

So which of you haven't yet discovered the catch back in the last few chapters ;)

Thanks again for the reviews :). Here's the next chapter. Enjoy

**Chapter Twenty-Two – Separate Ways**

John burst into the Power Room as Rodney frantically worked at the controls to try and give everyone as much time as possible to get away.

John startled him as he appeared in the doorway puffing and panting. "Sheppard, are you crazy get out of here this thing is about to go critical."

John was glad that Lorne had tied his hands in front of him rather than behind, not having time for explanations he moved forward and shoved Rodney away from the Controls.

"Sheppard stop! What the hell are you doing?"

"Saving your ass McKay."

Realisation hit Rodney like a ton of bricks. "You rigged the ZPM?

"The devil inside me did."

"The what?"

"Listen McKay, I can't control the change inside me, I had to fight its presence to prevent it from killing Elizabeth.

"I don't know how long I can hold it in check," John clenched his eyes and fists tight above the control panel as he could feel it taking hold, "I want you to pull the ZPM and hide it as soon as I've finished to prevent this from happening again."

"You're not making any sense, what change? What's happening?"

"I'm becoming one of them McKay, we probably know them on Earth as Vampires… Torlian's race."

"But Vampires are just legends?"

"Legends always have a certain truth to them."

As John finished keying in the final sequence, the alarm stopped. He then moved away from it. "Pull it out now."

"But what about the others, how are we supposed to call them back without the Stargate?"

"Go do that first, when everyone is back. Pull it out."

Rodney turned in the doorway having made a move. "What about you? If what is true, I can't leave you on your own."

"Keep the cuffs on me and seal this room once we're out. Find me when they get back, maybe Carson will be able to work his miracles cures."

"Find you, you're not coming with me?"

"It's too dangerous, I could jeopardise…" He paused and rubbed his neck before closing his eyes. "Leave now!"

"You first. The room I mean."

John did as McKay asked, after which McKay sealed the room by removing one of the control crystals to the door. Then pocketed it and panicked when he could see John struggling to keep hold. "Don't go too far."

"Just go and hurry!"

-----

"Let me go!" Yelled a frustrated Elizabeth as Ronon carried her over his shoulder.

Ronon put her down onto the mud leafed ground the minute they cleared the event horizon.

By that time the Wormhole had disengaged.

Forgetting the rest of the expedition team behind her, she stared at the Gate remembering McKay's last words and seeing the faces of the ones they'd lost, before silently making herself a vow. "You won't be forgotten, and we won't be forgotten,"

Elizabeth knew with Atlantis gone it would be close to impossible for the Daedulas to find them, she didn't even know where they where, but that wasn't going to stop her new goal; she needed to be strong if they where to survive.

**New Chapter: Missing**

_Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!_


	23. Chapter 23: Missing

Thanks again for the reviews :) .

**Chapter Twenty Three - Missing**

Under the moon lit sky, Elizabeth woke with a start from a bad dream, which ended with a visual image of Atlantis exploding under the setting sun.

She clambered out of the sleeping bag, which had been handed to her during the inventory check upon what was salvaged during their evacuation. It was one of a few from the Puddle Jumpers they'd bought with them at first she refused to take it but Carson had ordered her to.

She looked round at the tall trees surrounding them.

It was a few minutes before she noticed the place was dead silent of native wildlife.

She knew a few guards had been stationed around the perimeter in case of a possible intrusion.

Keeping within that perimeter, she decided to go for a walk to help clear the bad dream from her mind.

She had slept in her work clothes, not having anything else with her. So she only needed to slip on her shoes and jacket.

The slight shuffling disturbance had woken Ronon, who slept not far from her location.

He waited till she was out of sight, then picked himself up off the floor and followed her, knowing it could be dangerous for her to be wandering about alone at night despite the security presence.

He kept his distance knowing she wouldn't like the constant concern for her own safety, despite her concern for others.

Teyla wanted to return to her people but with them still on the mainland it wasn't possible.

Ronon himself hadn't decided what to do yet. He knew they would never survive on their own without some help. Earlier today had proven that, after one of the men had drunk intoxicated water from the stream near by, but in doing so he'd saved the lives of others. Now that water was constantly boiled before it was used.

He guessed that was where Elizabeth was heading. A replacement for the balcony she always used to clear her mind.

He guessed correct, the water from the stream lit up under the moon lit sky. She stood by the edge of it. The trees positioned all along both sides.

Seeing no danger he returned to camp.

Elizabeth craned her neck hearing him go back, living out in the forest with no wildlife made it easier to distinguish other noises despite his attempt at being stealthy.

She sighed as she sat down.

It was then she smelt something funny in the air.

-----

In the mean time back in Atlantis, McKay made it back to the control room in double time only to find the DHD panel burnt out. Chuck was standing in front of it holding a fire extinguisher.

"Please tell me this isn't happening," asked McKay making Chuck jump out of his skin.

"Give a guy a heart attack why don't you."

McKay moved forward, pushing Chuck out the way in mid sentence so he could survey the damage. "We're so screwed."

"What's going on? Thought the city was going to explode."

"Sheppard fixed the problem, I came back to re-call the team. Looks like it's going to be sometime before I can do that; the overload in the DHD has caused a catastrophic failure to the Gate system."

"Can you fix it?"

"Like I said, it'll take time," he remembered the ZPM. "Listen, whilst I do this, I need you to go to the Power Room and guard the ZPM. I can't pull that out till this has been fixed."

"Why does Z…"

"Just do as I ask, long story not enough time."

"Right."

"Oh, and be careful. Sheppard isn't himself right now."

"What's that supposed…"

Again McKay cut him off he was about to repeat the 'not enough time' line when Chuck beat him to it seeing McKay's face.

"I know, not enough time." With that, Chuck left the room and McKay got to work.

**7 hours later**

In the smoke filled air Jumper One stood abandoned near the Gate next to Jumper Two, which was on its side.

Jumper One's radio crackled into life as McKay's voice filled the air inside. "Jumper One this is Atlantis please respond."

There was no sign of life anywhere between the active Gate and the Stream as McKay's voice continued to filter through, "Do you read, this is Atlantis please respond."

Jumper Two's radio came to life and the same message was repeated but no reply came.

**Next Chapter: Dreams VS Reality**

_Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!_


	24. Chapter 24: Dreams VS Reality

Thanks again for the reviews. Here's the next chapter. Enjoy. :)

**Chapter Twenty Four - Dreams VS Reality**

Elizabeth slowly opened her eyes, senses starting to kick in as the familiar sound of beeping echoed in her mind.

She looked around and found that she was in the Infirmary.

Then breathed a sigh of relief knowing it 'was' just a dream, at least she hoped it was.

The lights had been dimmed and there was no one else about that she could see.

It was then she started to consider why she was even in here.

She looked to her right and could see the side unit, which contained a glass of water, a jug and a bunch of flowers up against the back wall, with a note sticking out the pot.

She smiled and turned on her side to reach it, only to knock the glass of water over instead.

She lay back heavily onto the pillow and sighed, as Carson came rushing out from his office and automatically activated his earpiece at the same time. "Sheppard she's awake."

"Sorry Carson I was just trying to…"

"No need to apologise love, glad you're awake. You had us all worried you know."

"What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"It's all a bit hazy, mixed in with the dreams."

"You had an accident in the Puddle Jumper when you went with Sheppard's team for a recon mission. The Puddle Jumper crashed and you were knocked out," he paused as he bent down to retrieve the glass of the floor. "Had a nasty cut on your head."

He indicated the left of his forehead and nodded to Elizabeth's at the same time.

She moved her hand up to the location and felt the bandage covering it.

"That wasn't a dream," she replied back.

"Afraid not," he stood up holding the remains of the smashed glass.

"What about the others, are they all okay?"

"Aye, all except Sheppard, but we're keeping an eye on him."

"The bite?"

"You remember that?"

"Like I said all a bit hazy, but I take it that bit was real too?"

"It was," answered Sheppard who stood in the doorway to the Infirmary hands in his Jean's pockets.

He removed them and started walking towards her bed. "The darn bite has been driving me up the wall. Doc won't let me get back to work till we find out why."

"It's in everyone's best interest Colonel," replied Carson. "It was either that or confined to the Infirmary."

"Now you know how I hate that Doc."

"Don't I just."

Elizabeth couldn't help but smile at the two.

It was then Rodney showed up in the Infirmary. "It's true, you are awake… four weeks you had us worried," he rushed forward, bent down and pulled her into a hug.

"Don't ever do that again, you hear. You have no idea of the of constant teasing I've had endure, without you to control Mr flyboy over there."

Elizabeth looked at John over Rodney's shoulder and raised an eyebrow at him.

But she only received his cocky grin. "Four weeks?" She responded suddenly, as Rodney let go, a little shocked at the time missed.

"Yes, four long insufferable weeks."

"They weren't that bad McKay and we had agreed not to say anything about that, till the time was right."

McKay screwed up his face at John's words, forgetting they'd agreed not to say anything about the time-lapse knowing it could cause slight trauma.

Seeing the shocked look on Elizabeth face Carson ushered the two out the room. "Come on you two, I think we need to let our patient have some rest. Too much information has been absorbed already."

"But…"

"No Rodney, I'm sure one more week of teasing will be tolerable. I don't want to see either of you back here till tomorrow, understood."

"Humph, fine."

"Nice going bright spark," teased John.

"Oh don't start, you know. I'll be glad when you're back at work."

Carson shook his head as the two left the room, and then turned back round to face Elizabeth, to see her staring at the ceiling.

She could hear him walking back over. "Four weeks Carson? Has it really been that long? I dreamt only two." She turned to face him as he reached the foot of the bed, hands in his coat pockets.

"Aye it has. You slipped into a coma just after we resuscitated you, two knocks on the head in one day can be deadly. John probably saved your life with his quick thinking to try and freeze the blood flow."

"His idea worked then."

"Almost, he might not have stopped it but he did slow it."

"Have I missed much?"

"Nothing that can't wait, get some rest."

She looked back over at the flowers and pointed at the not. "Carson could you please."

He looked at what she was pointing at and quickly moved in that direction. "Of course love. I'll get you another drink as well, you must be thirsty."

He handed her the note and she opened it, inside it read.

'GET WELL SOON; FROM YOUR NUMBER ONE TEAM'

PS

You'll love the surprise coming ;)

John Sheppard

**Next Chapter: Recovery**

_Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!_


	25. Chapter 25: Recovery

Thanks again for the reviews :).

Sorry everyone, last one for now, I've run out of chapters again :(.

Don't Panic! More coming… lots more. :D. Long way from being finished yet ;).

**Chapter Twenty-Five - Recovery**

It was Thursday, Earth stranded time. Carson studied Elizabeth's eyes with a pen-torch. "I must say you've made a remarkable recovery. If nothing changes within the next five hours, I'll be able to release you from the Infirmary."

After pocketing it, he quickly added a warning. "But no working till the weeks out, otherwise you're straight back here."

"But…" Was all she could answer before Carson interrupted her, she could hear John trying to hold a giggle behind him.

"None do you understand, I don't want you passing out on me again from exhaustion like you did the other day, having persuaded me to let you go for a long walk."

"You're as bad as me," replied John as he walked up to the bed patting Carson as he made to leave. "Thought I was the only one who could twist the Doc's arm."

"Not anymore," she replied.

"Hope you didn't forget our little deal as I've got a nice surprise for you." He asked as he bent down and kissed her on the forehead whilst placing his right hand in hers, just like he had done every day for the past four weeks.

"I know…" she indicated the note, "I haven't forgotten, but you have," she added cheekily, "I agreed, if "you" got us out of the mess we we're in."

John didn't miss the emphasis on the "you" and let her finish her sentence.

"As I recall it was Doctor McKay who got us out of the mess."

"Well technically it was a combined effort, I kept you awake, Lorne sent the rescue team ahead of schedule and McKay fixed the transporters."

John pulled up a chair and sat down. "He's still gloating over that actually. The fact he managed to fix something Hermiod couldn't and I think he's starting to drive Radek up the wall over it, just as well I can't translate Czech."

Elizabeth didn't miss the fact that John rubbed the bite on his neck or rather the bandage sitting on top of it and a flash of Déjà Vu washed over her.

_John looked at the gun, finger closing on the trigger, as she got closer. He removed one hand from it to rub his neck._

_It was then Lorne and his men rushed in surrounding him from behind weapons raised._

_This provoked John into pulling the trigger._

"Vampire's." She muttered quickly and pulled her hand away from his.

"Elizabeth, what's wrong?" Not quite hearing what she had said and being surprised at the sudden loss of contact.

Carson was straight back out of his office after hearing John's concerned voice. "I hope you're not upsetting my patients, Colonel."

John motioned for Carson to stay back when Elizabeth hadn't responded to his answer, "Elizabeth."

She shook herself out of her daydream, panic evident in her voice as she tried to explain. "This might sound silly, but I dreamt you turned into a Vampire and tried to destroy Atlantis."

Carson and John looked at each other and then John returned his gaze to Elizabeth as she continued talking.

"You said that Torlian's race was called Vampires and during the transformation you kept rubbing your neck like you are now." She pointed at the spot on his neck.

"John, didn't you say Torlian's race feed on blood?" Asked Carson taking Elizabeth's words into consideration.

"Yeah but come on…Vampires?"

"It's a distinct possibility," added Carson. "We are in another Galaxy after all."

"Plus he said they used the Stargates to transport themselves from world to world," reminded Elizabeth. "And there is every possibility they reached Earth."

"Okay, you guys are scaring me now, I'm not gonna turn into one of these am I Doc? I was bitten by a bat type creature not Torlian."

"In some legends Vampires turn into bats, so it's quite possible that the bat thing was Torlian."

"The Son of a bitch, I thought he found out about the Daedulas a little too easy."

"But it's been four weeks, nothing has happened. The blood tests prove that."

"I may have been looking in the wrong place, would explain why I've not discovered anything. Your DNA might remain the same but your molecular structure could be changing."

"Did you not say you feel more energized at night time, than you do in the morning?" Asked Carson.

"Yeah, but then I have been sleeping here quite often during the day, might be why?"

"I'm touched John," replied Elizabeth.

Carson looked at John then to Elizabeth. "Oh, trust me Elizabeth it took excessive persuasion to get him to leave you for just a few hours, after the first week."

Carson turned to face John who sat staring at Elizabeth, and watched as he retook her hand. "I'll need to take some figures prints when you have a minute and again in a few hours time see if there are any changes there in your fiscal structure."

John hadn't heard, at least he gave no indication that he had. "John!"

"What!"

"I said, I'll need to take some figures prints when you have a minute and again in a few hours time to see if there are any changes there in your fiscal structure."

"Okay, be with you in a few minutes."

**Next Chapter: Saturday**

_Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!_


	26. Chapter 26: Saturday

Thanks again for the alerts and reviews.

Sorry to keep you all waiting, had writer's block for a while. But I've got two more chapters lined up after this with a third in the works. Enjoy :).

**Chapter Twenty-Six – Saturday**

"It feels good to be up and about again," Elizabeth said as she walked with John to his quarters so he could show her the surprise he had ready and waiting.

Both of them were dressed in casual clothing for the evening.

They reached his room and he palmed open the door. "Just remember what the Doc said, don't over do it."

"I'm sure you'll have your watchful eye on me, should I…" Elizabeth stopped in mid sentence when the lights turned on having entered the room and stared at the site before her.

John had managed to scrounge the sofa from the media room, his bed having been shoved to one side to make room. On each side of the sofa sat a small coffee table with a bowl of popcorn on each.

In front of the sofa sat a plasma screen up on the back wall. A selection of DVD movies sat on the middle of the couch.

John moved her over to the couch, sat her down and handed her the DVD's. "I told the staff members, they'll have to forgo movie night tonight and find something else to entertain themselves. I'm sure many have loads of unfinished reports to write."

She raised an eyebrow at him before skimming through the titles after she had removed the paper on top.

Interview with the Vampire, John saw the title and innocently snatched it back. The last thing he wanted was to be reminded of Vampires. "Whoops, not sure how that one got in there."

She looked at him then continued down the pile, Buffy: The Vampire Slayer: The Movie, Blade, Dracula and Underworld.

John took the piece of paper she had picked up off the top and turned it over. 'Just a little payback for all the teasing, McKay.'

Elizabeth could see John's face starting to turn red, "I'll kill him."

He rushed towards the door, but quickly paused and turned around. "Don't go anywhere."

She shook her head trying to hold back the laughter. They had been right about one thing; nothing had changed.

-----

Having successfully pinned McKay down in the cafeteria; John finally managed to obtain the correct batch of movies from him, with the little help from a piece of citrus fruit from someone else's tray.

-----

John then headed back to his quarters, triumphantly holding the correct batch in his hands.

Just as he got near the room he dropped them onto the floor as he doubled over in pain.

He went to reach for his earpiece to call Carson, forgetting he didn't have it with him, so he struggled onto his room in hopes Elizabeth had hers.

----

Elizabeth sat patiently; while she waited for him to return, it wasn't till she heard a light crash outside did she move to investigate the noise.

Exiting his room and looking to her left, Elizabeth could see John clutching his stomach. "John."

Quickly she rushed over to him to see what the problem was, slightly afraid of what it could be and thinking about it made her slow her pace down a little as she got near him; especially after he hadn't answered.

"John, what's wrong? Do you want me to call…"

"No, one!" He lifted his head to look at her, "I'm just hungry that's all."

Instead of blue eyes like in her dream, they were red and he showed his fang like teeth.

Elizabeth staggered back, more from shock than surprise. It was all happening too fast.

Sheppard rounded on her 'like a hawk ready to catch its prey,' till her back was pressed up against the wall. "No virus to save you this time."

He forcefully grabbed her by the shoulders pinning her in place and then moved in to bite her neck.

**Next Chapter: Love Bites**

Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!


	27. Chapter 27: Love Bites

Thanks again for the reviews :).

Enjoy.

**Chapter Twenty-Seven – Love Bites**

Elizabeth wasn't going to let him do this. She quickly looked away, pulling her right arm up to protect her neck as best she could and called for help.

Sheppard hissed, when she moved her arm to block his path but that didn't deter him from biting into her skin.

She yelled out in pain when his teeth pierced her forearm, blood already dripping down.

Ronon and Teyla were heading back from training when they heard the cry for help.

Throwing down their gear they rushed to the scene.

Neither of them wasted any time to pull John away.

Teyla cried out for him to stop as both she and Ronon tried to break his hold, eventually succeeding.

Elizabeth clutched her arm tightly, tears pouring down her face. Not of fear but relief.

John struggled violently from Ronon's hold as Teyla moved in and held a protective arm around Elizabeth's shoulders, then the free hand reached for Elizabeth's elbow to guide her away from the struggling pair.

But John soon got the better of Ronon by pulling out of his grasp and swung a fist in his face.

While Ronon was shortly disorientated from the powerful blow John rushed to where Teyla was guiding Elizabeth away.

John put an arm around Teyla's waist and pulled her away, throwing her to the ground.

He then leapt on top of her before she could counter attack and bit down into her neck, causing Teyla to scream out in agony.

Ronon ran towards John to stop him, but the minute he got close, he morphed into the bat creature and flew away leaving Teyla unconscious on the ground.

Ronon skidded to a stop beside her and bent down to check her pulse.

Elizabeth waited for the verdict, all pain and relief currently washed away, she would never forgive herself if Teyla had un-voluntarily taken her place at being John's first victim.

Ronon picked Teyla up in his arms and looked at her. "I need to get her to the Infirmary quick."

She nodded and moved aside to let him pass and then hurriedly followed on behind.

-----

Carson was just finishing up for the day by logging off his computers, when Ronon burst through the doors. "Doc! I need your help quick."

He turned round at the sound of Ronon's panicked voice and saw Teyla in his arms blood dripping from her neck through Ronon's fingers as he tried to put pressure on the wound.

"Good lord what happened? Put her over here on the bed quick."

"This might sound crazy but Sheppard bit her not more than a couple of minutes ago."

Carson saw Elizabeth walking into the room not far behind Ronon, clutching her arm. "Not you too?"

"Don't worry about me. Please, is Teyla going to be okay? It's my fault she was injured had I not called out."

"What exactly happened?" Carson asked as Ronon placed Teyla onto the bed.

Elizabeth tried to explain as he examined Teyla.

"And then he just flew away. I've put out a security alert for people to be careful and to try and catch him if possible."

Carson put his stethoscope away having finished checking Teyla's condition and looked at the two of them. "It would seem, apart from slight loss of blood, she's going to be okay."

Elizabeth sunk down on the nearest bed grateful to know she was going to be all right.

"Let me just finish fixing Teyla up, then I'll take a look at your arm."

-----

John noticed his sight had changed when flying around the corridors of Atlantis, looking for more substance.

It was like watching a camera with infrared lens. He felt so different the past half hour, knowing he was no longer the man he used to be.

He wasn't sure if he wanted to be alone like this or continue feeding. It was then he spotted a security detail pass underneath him, he took a chance choosing the earlier option.

-----

Major Lorne led his team through the corridors in an attempt to hunt down Colonel Sheppard as per orders.

Suddenly he heard some rustling noise from above him and looked up to see the bat creature flying towards him.

He wasn't quick enough to react, as it landed on his shoulders and bit him in his neck.

One of the marines from behind moved in to try and pull it off, but was not successful as within a minute it flew away.

**Next Chapter: The Search**

_"Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!"_


	28. Chapter 28: The Search

Thanks again for the reviews :)

**Chapter Twenty-Eight – The Search**

After his latest attack, the security alarms sounded throughout the city and doors began sealing shut. John quickly flew into the Jumper Bay unseen and took refuge inside one of the ships.

Elizabeth was still in the Infirmary with the others, as the security lockdown took place.

She activated her earpiece to try and find out what was going on. "This is Weir, report."

Chuck's voice came in over the com band. "Ma'am, the security detail has just been attacked and Major Lorne was injured by Colonel Sheppard."

"Any progress trying to catch Sheppard?"

"Not yet Ma'am, the sensors are finding it difficult picking up his signature; it seems to be in some kind of flux. Everyone else is in groups of two or more."

"Do whatever you can and someone please open the Infirmary doors to let those of us in here out."

"I'll get Doctor McKay on it right away, out."

-----

Now he knew everyone was out looking for him. John considered his next course of action and wondered about stealing the Jumper.

Morphing himself back into human form, he walked to the control panel and took up the pilot's seat.

-----

In the Control Room a blip appeared on the forward sensors. "I got him; he's in the Jumper Bay."

Just as McKay finished his sentence the Gate activated and the hanger doors opened up, revealing the Puddle Jumper.

-----

John looked around the room from inside the ship and could see those in front looking at him. He smiled his evil grin as the wormhole engaged.

After which flew the ship into the event horizon.

Chuck got the symbols from the main DHD and buried them in his mind. It was then Elizabeth walked in and the Gate shut down.

Her look turned to that of regret when she saw Chuck's face, that in it self told her what she needed to know. John had escaped.

-----

After spending an hour getting a security team together to follow John, Carson had informed Elizabeth of the Major's progress.

Whatever happened to John the same thing was happening to the Major and they had no idea how to stop it.

For now, the Major was under guard until further notice.

He also mentioned that Teyla was on the fast road to recovery.

-----

Elizabeth had geared up for the mission to bring back Sheppard. Knowing there was no need for her to go, but after seeing the MALP image something was nagging at the back of her mind telling her that she should.

The teams gathered in the Jumper Bay and between them they took two Puddle Jumpers, pilots already seated. She took the first with five security men, Ronon and Rodney. The remainder of the team took the second.

Once everyone had settled in they moved out.

-----

Once the Puddle Jumpers had landed on the other side of the Gate thirty minutes away, everyone disembarked having found a clearing in the darkened forest.

Elizabeth's senses had proven true as immediately she recognized the place.

Having quickly ordered her team to follow, the remainder stayed behind. She needed to test her theory.

-----

Both Rodney's and Ronon's answers, as to where they we're going were ignored until after five minutes she spoke up. "If I'm right there should be a stream just around here."

"Sounds as though you know this place," Ronon commented.

"Believe it or not, I recognize it from my dreams." This stopped the team behind her in their tracks and it took a few seconds for Elizabeth to realise they were not following.

"You recognize this place from your dreams?" Asked Rodney as she turned around, he was being a little skeptical at the same time.

"Yes, and to prove it there should be a stream straight ahead. Don't ask me how I know, I don't know myself yet."

Neither of them responded and she could see, that they thought she had lost it. "You don't believe me do you?"

She watched, as the pair of them couldn't find an answer. "Fine, I'll check myself."

Rodney ran up to her as she continued forward. "Oh, no you don't. Not without some protection… we don't know what could be lurking in these woods."

"Trust me Rodney, if I'm correct then absolutely nothing." She patted him on the shoulder then walked away from him towards the stream.

-----

After walking another five minutes, the others tagging behind her. Her suspicions had proven correct; the stream was running through the forest as it had done in her dreams.

Rodney and Ronon along with the rest of the men, stood with mouths open stunned. Their boss had been correct.

Suddenly she could smell something strange in the air, the same smell as before and the place began to fill with smoke.

Knowing exactly what was going to happen and didn't waist any time contacting the other team. "Group two this is Weir, get those Puddle Jumpers in the air now! Don't wait for…"

**Next Chapter: Old Friend**

One or two surprises coming next chapter. ;).

"Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!"


	29. Chapter 29: Old Friend

Thanks again for the reviews.

Okay folks. Returning Sheppard to normal, here's your first clue as to how… ;)

**Chapter Twenty-Nine – Old Friend**

"Doctor Weir."

Thinking the voice came from Rodney, she looked up to face him. Only to find everyone had disappeared.

Even the landscape, it was all replaced with a darkened version of Atlantis and she found herself standing on one of the platforms, waves crashing against it.

The voice came again. "Doctor Weir."

She immediately spun round in the direction it came from. "Who's calling me?"

There was a bright white flash, afterwards Elizabeth found herself face to face with… "I'm guessing you're an ancient but do I know you?"

"Forgotten me already?" The man clicked his fingers in a similar fashion to the way Rodney occasionally does. "Of course I'm forgetting; it was the other you I met."

"Other me…?"

The names suddenly came to her, "Janis?"

The man smiled and nodded.

"Look. I don't mean to be rude, it's really nice to meet you and all and have the opportunity to say thanks for before, but I really don't have the time…"

Janis lifted his hand, indicating for her to stop talking. "I'm here to help; things are spiraling out of control."

"Isn't it forbidden for ascended ancients to help?"

"Technically yes, but if Sheppard's transformation is allowed to continue to the point of completion, no one in the Universe will be safe and the 'dark war' older and bloodier than the Wraith war could begin again."

"You know about these Vampires, I mean creatures?"

"Yes, I tried to reach out to you in your dreams… to let you know what you're in for. But the parasite inhabiting Sheppard wasn't making it easy for me."

"Parasite?"

"When someone has been bitten, a parasite is injected into the body, that parasite re-writes the occupants chemistry. Once that transformation is complete the parasite dies, leaving a blood thirsty creature behind."

"Unknown to the occupant. The parasite has the ability to interrupt the subconscious mind of those in close contact and attack from within."

"It was you who stopped the John from my dream, pulling the gun on me."

"It was."

"Thank you."

Janis nodded in response. "Also be warned, if he wishes, he can control those he has infected, until their parasite dies."

"Can any transformation be stopped before it's complete?"

"There is a way, I can't help you directly but I can tell you," 'Janis could sense the others had found him,' "you had the cure…"

Another flash interrupted Janis's speech and Elizabeth found herself back in the forest.

Rodney's concerned voice sounded again. "Elizabeth, you okay?"

"Janis wait, I had the cure… what was it?" No response… "Janis!"

This time her name came via her earpiece. "Doctor Weir, please clarify."

It was then she noticed the ground had stopped shaking and the smoke had all but cleared. In fact there was no evidence of the pending eruption, she had expected.

Sounding a bit foolish she established communications. "Delay that order Sergeant." She looked at Rodney. "What the hell is going on?"

"Maybe we should get you back to Atlantis? You seem to be seeing things that aren't there."

"I wouldn't mention Janis's name for the sake of it."

"What did he have to say?"

"That there is a way to return Colonel Sheppard to normal."

**Next Chapter: Unseen Dangers**

"Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!"


	30. Chapter 30: Unseen Dangers

Thanks again for the reviews. Enjoy :)

**Chapter Thirty – Unseen Dangers **

"But that's great news," answered Rodney. "What is it?"

"He vanished before he could say. But he did say I had the cure, whatever that means?"

"Why is it the Ancients can never give a straightforward answer?"

Ronon, looked at Rodney. "They must take after you."

"Or the other way round." Replied Rodney sarcastically.

Both stopped talking, when they heard a rustling noise and looked up to see John standing a few feet in front of them.

Ronon immediately took point in front of Elizabeth; and the extra five guards along with Rodney pulled their weapons on him as he started talking.

"Thought I'd save you the trouble in looking for me and come to you instead."

Elizabeth carefully sidestepped Ronon to talk to John, only to notice the projectile weapon in his hands and moved no further.

"Seeing as you're not going to go away till either one of us is dead."

Elizabeth breathed in deeply, was Janus just showing her what she was in for, or the future? She tried to put on a brave face. "Seven guns against one Colonel, I'd say the odds are in our favor."

"Maybe, but who has the quickest reflexes to catch me, once I fired this shot."

"John wait, there's a cure. Come back with us and we'll find it."

"What makes you think I want saving, Elizabeth?"

Ronon noticed Sheppard's hand move on the trigger and fired the first shot.

John fired soon after and was in the early stages of transformation when Ronon's shot hit him head-on, causing the morphing effects to reverse.

At the same time the shots were fired, one guard tackled Elizabeth to the ground as the bullet from Sheppard's gun whizzed overhead, striking a tree trunk in the distance.

Ronon turned hearing the two hit the ground and watched as they slowly got back onto their feet with just a few bumps and bruises on them.

Rodney pulled Elizabeth to her feet, having provided a helping hand. "Well we got what we came for."

Elizabeth straightened herself out, once she was up and nodded. "When this is all over, I'm taking a break."

Ronon walked up to Sheppard and double-checked to make sure he was unconscious. He then looked to Elizabeth and she made her way over. "Take him back to Atlantis?"

"Yes, I need two people to help me do that, I need you and Rodney to scout the area and make sure there are no people around he may have infected."

"And if they're?"

"Quarantine them till we find the cure; we can't risk the infection going any further than this planet."

"You might want to secure Sheppard before you transport him back. There's no guarantee on how long the effects from the gun will last, with his current state."

The tallest of the guards nodded after Ronon finished talking and pulled out a tag from his armor to secure John's hands.

As Elizabeth readied herself to leave ahead of the guards, one of whom had lifted John over his shoulders, she spoke to Rodney and Ronon one last time. "Keep in contact every hour to inform me of your progress."

The pair of them nodded and watched them head back to the Puddle Jumpers so they could return to Atlantis.

-----

Elizabeth sat in the Co-Pilot's seat as she watched her pilot, who had remained behind to guard the machine, lift it into the air with ease and decided to relax knowing they were on their way home.

Elizabeth informed Carson via radio about the latest news and ended up with a full blown conversation about the fact that he wasn't happy, having found out she'd gone on the mission, after giving explicit instructions not to. But she was too tired to argue with him.

It wasn't until ten minutes into the flight, with still another twenty to the Stargate, did John start to come around from the blast shot.

Elizabeth had fallen asleep at this stage after the long day events had finally taken its toll.

The two security men sitting opposite John considered whether or not they should wake her to let her know. In the end they decided against it, as it looked like he wasn't going to cause any trouble.

With two guns pointing at him, it was hardly surprising. But none of them saw the pilot's eyes flash red.

John decided to play for time as he fiddled with his hands, in attempt to undo his bonds behind his back and started to mock the guards. "Not waking sleeping beauty, I could cause unforeseen amount of damage once I'm free."

The guard who had tied the knot sniggered a bit, thinking it was impossible for anyone to get out of one of those things.

But no one could see John's hands change shape and the tag fall free.

**Next Chapter: From Bad to Worse**

"Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!"


	31. Chapter 31: From Bad to Worse

Thanks again for the reviews :). Enjoy.

**Chapter Thirty One - From Bad To Worse**

Ronon and Rodney came by a small village just on the outskirts of the forest; the town was only just visible through the tall trees.

They found it by chance after hearing cries of anguish from the locals.

The way the village was set up and how the locals were dressed it reminded Rodney of the old Robin Hood adventure.

The three remaining guards with them took point as they carefully entered the village. To see what the problem was.

One of the villagers spotted them and yelled hateful words at them. "More plague carries, kill them!"

What started off as a small handful of people soon turned into a mass group of protestors and they started chanting. "Kill… kill."

Rodney took a step back as they came nearer. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, certainly sounds like Sheppard's been here."

"And caused trouble by the looks of it," replied Ronon, following Rodney's footsteps by stepping back.

Rodney had to shout louder as the cry of hatred raised up a notch as more people joined in. "Doctor Weir told us we should quarantine those who have been infected."

Ronon looked at the guard nearest him, and pulled his own weapon out. "Fire shots into the air see if it stops them shouting out."

The man nodded and both he and Ronon fired upward, letting off round after round until the noise stopped.

Ronon then levelled his gun at a mass group. "Listen, we're not plague carriers, we've come to see what the problem was after hearing cries."

A villager stepped forward from the group to address Ronon. "If you're not plague carriers, then why is it that you are dressed in the similar fashion of the one who came here not that long ago?" Asked the man.

"The person who came hear, what did they look like?"

"Tall, scruffy black hair, dressed like you."

"Sheppard," whispered Rodney.

Ronon asked another question. "When you say plague carriers what did he do?"

"A handful of us have animal bites on our necks, given to us as we slept. One woman wasn't so lucky, when she met the man who caused them." The crowed moved aside and the Atlanteans could see what Sheppard had supposedly done.

A middle-aged man was huddled over a dead person.

Rodney grimaced at the site of it, even at nighttime the blood was clearly visible on the ground. "Something tells me, things have gotten a lot worse."

Ronon turned to face him. "We should warn Doctor Weir. If things have progressed to this stage, they can't risk taking Sheppard back to Atlantis."

"One of the guards could go back to the spare Puddle Jumper to contact them; they should still be in flight."

The guard to the right of Rodney heard him and spoke up. "I'll go."

Rodney turned to face him and then nodded. After which the guard rushed off back into the woods.

Ronon turned his attention back to the villager who spoke. "Listen, we need to ask those of you who have been bitten; to group together and contain yourselves in one of the buildings."

"Why should we trust you?"

Rodney spoke up. "Our friend has been infected, but not by the plague. He is turning into a creature of unimaginable scope and we believe he has passed on that ability some of you."

"If the transformation of either one of you is allowed to continue." Rodney pointed to the dead person. "You could cause more deaths like that."

The man considered their request. "Your kind bought this upon us, why should we trust you?"

"We might be able to find a cure and reverse the effects, our leader knows more but she isn't here right now."

"Then call her here."

"We can't risk that, she's the only one…" Ronon stopped talking when a rock was thrown at him and hit him square in the right shoulder, making him drop his gun.

The other villagers took this opportunity and rushed them.

**Next Chapter: Setback**

_"Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!"_


	32. Chapter 32: Setback

**Thanks again for the alerts and reviews :).**

**Just got time to post this before I go work. Enjoy.**

**Chapter Thirty two – Setback**

As Rodney opened his eyes from having been unconscious he saw Ronon standing by the door to the building they we're in. "Correct me if I'm wrong. I thought we were supposed to be quarantining the villagers, not the other way round."

"Funny McKay… I didn't see you putting up much of a fight."

"You didn't expect me to open fire on innocent civilians did you?"

"You got hands haven't you?"

"Yes, hands which I'd like to keep intact." He replied using them to get himself back on his feet.

Ronon rolled his eyes and McKay took that as 'end of topic' note and sat back down when his head spun.

Another question popped into Rodney's head. "How long do you think it's been since they took us captive?"

Ronon turned away from the door and looked at him, sitting on the straw in the back right corner of the room. "Dawn is beginning to break; it was night time when we came here. Don't know; anything from one to two hours probably."

Ronon turned back to look through the bars of the cell door after hearing some commotion from outside.

The building looked out into the village and he could see a group of people coming towards them and in-between someone was struggling for release.

It wasn't until they got close Ronon could see who it was, having spotted the red uniform and yelled through the bars. "Let her go!"

This brought McKay's attention and he was straight back on his feet. "Let who go?"

The man they met earlier was leading the group of four and a prisoner. Once he reached the cell door he stepped aside for Rodney and Ronon to see. "Your leader?"

Elizabeth looked up once they had stopped dragging her and saw who was locked up behind the bars of the roof-thatched building.

Accepting the quietness as a yes, the man continued talking. "We found her walking in the forest alone, looks like she had an encounter with your friend."

He tilted her head to the right, a little too sharply for her liking and winced a bit.

Ronon and McKay could see the bite on her neck and Ronon shook the bars in anger.

One of the men walked up to them, having appeared from behind Elizabeth. He was holding a pitchfork and used it to force Ronon back from the door. Another person let go of Elizabeth's right arm and removed the keys from his pocket to unlock it.

The remaining person shoved Elizabeth into the cell once the door was open. Ronon caught her before she could fall onto the ground.

The door was once again closed and the men left.

Ronon held both her arms and made her look at him. "What happened? I thought you were taking Sheppard back to Atlantis?"

Rodney could see how tired she looked. "Leave it Ronon, she can tell us when she's ready."

Elizabeth looked at him. "It's okay Rodney. I'm not sure what happened, we took-off in the Puddle Jumper to return to the Stargate, I fell asleep on the way home." She paused to gather her thoughts. "After I woke up…"

**Flashback**

Elizabeth woke from her deep sleep, having felt a sharp sting on the base of her neck.

It took a moment to adjust to reality and flinched when gunshots were fired at the console and sparks started flying.

She looked behind her to see where the gunshots had come from, but was only rewarded with a rustling noise and then silence.

Elizabeth felt the base of her neck where it stung and whispered a silent 'oh... no' when she felt the bite marks.

She then tried to access the DHD to contact Atlantis for help, only to find it was completely shot from the carefully placed weapons fire.

Panicking a little she slowly got up off the seat, and then walked to the open hatchway, not knowing fully what had taken place to have forced them to land.

On the way to the exit, she spotted Sheppard's tag tie on the seat. She then walked out of the ship only to find the dead guards on the ground.

She couldn't stop herself from vomiting at the site of them, disoriented she moved away from the bodies and ship quickly.

There was no point staying near the ship, it was of no use to her, she needed to make her way back to the gate, and considered which way to go, but had no idea which direction it was in.

Seeing the Ship was facing forward, she headed in that direction.

**End Flashback**

"Guess I took the wrong path."

"What happened to the pilot?" McKay asked.

"I don't know." She then noticed apart from two other guards, they we're the only ones in the cell.

"What happened to Sergeant Wavers?

"He went back to warn you about Sheppard after we discovered he attacked the villagers, we haven't seen him since.

"I take it no sign of the crew from Puddle Jumper two?"

"None." Replied Ronon solemnly. "They'd have shown up to help by now, looks like we're the only ones left."

**Next Chapter: Clues**

_"Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!"_


	33. Chapter 33: Clues

Thanks again for the alerts and reviews :). Enjoy.

**Chapter Thirty-Three - Clues**

By the time the sun was up, the villagers' wannabe leader turned up again, only this time alone. "Tell us the cure then we'll release you."

Elizabeth looked up from where she sat, and stood up to talk to him. "If I knew, I wouldn't be infected would I?"

Rodney continued to sleep, but Ronon heard the man approach.

"Your friends told me you were the only one with the answer."

"I may be the only one with the answer, but I haven't yet discovered what that answer is and the longer you keep us here, the less likely hood will find it."

As they continued arguing Elizabeth noticed a young girl walk behind the man and she didn't look at all well, but didn't see any signs that she had been attacked last night.

"What's wrong with that young girl?"

The man looked behind and could see who she was talking about. "One of the lucky ones, she was the one, the woman who died saved last night and for some reason your friend took a disliking to her."

"She looks unwell."

"Yes, she is unwell."

"What's her name? Do you know why she's unwell?"

"Lana and we don't know."

Elizabeth called the young girl over to see if she recognized the symptoms she had.

She noticed Lana look and the man she had been talking to for reassurance.

The man nodded. "You can speak to her."

Elizabeth bent down to her height once she walked up to them. "Hey there sweetie, can you tell me what's wrong."

The girl wrapped herself up before replying having seen the bite on her neck.

Elizabeth smiled at her, noticing that she'd seen it. "I'm not going to hurt you, I just want to know how you're feeling?"

"Sick."

"Symptoms?"

Not understanding the word, she looked at the man for the question. He too bent down to her level.

"Can you tell her what hurts?"

"Dry throat, headache, sometimes I'm sick after working too hard."

"I'm surprised you're walking about." Elizabeth put her arm through the bars to try and reach the girl but she immediately scurried behind the man's back.

The man held her behind protectively and shook his head.

"I just want to check her temperature."

He continued shaking his head. "I'm sorry, we don't understand some of your words."

Suddenly a wave of images flashed through Elizabeth's mind.

**Flashback One**

John noticed Elizabeth tremble a bit. "Hey, what's up?"

"Cold."

"You're running a fever, might be why, not to mention the fact we're surrounded by snow.

**Flashback Two**

They used a virus to destroy most of my kind and for those of us that remained they imprisoned us to study us just as we did them.

**Flashback Three**

Sheppard rounded on her 'like a hawk ready to catch its prey,' until her back was pressed up against the wall. "No virus to save you this time."

**Flashback Four**

"There is a way, I can't help you directly but I can tell you," 'Janis could sense the others had found him,' you had the cure…"

**End Flashbacks**

"The virus…. That must be it."

"The virus you had? How can that help us?" Ronon asked.

"I don't know, but it's got to be the answer to our problems somehow."

The man had listened in on the conversation. "You do know it, what virus and how will it help us?"

"I don't know, listen you've got to let us go so I can take the information back home to help create an antidote."

The man looked at each of them one at a time, debating weather he should trust them or not and then shook his head and walked away.

"Please!" Elizabeth yelled seeing him turn to go. Then in the far distance she spotted Sheppard through the trees for a few seconds before he disappeared.

**Next Chapter: Discovery**

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	34. Chapter 34: Discovery

**Chapter Thirty-Four - Discovery**

"It's got to be the answer." Elizabeth kept muttering to herself while pacing the cell, and then looked at Ronon and Rodney; who was now awake. "But it can't be, Torlian told us the virus the Wraith created destroyed most of their kind it, doesn't make any sense."

"Well, give it a few weeks and you'll have all the answers. Not that it'll do us any good."

Elizabeth looked heatedly at Rodney. "Do you think I wanted this Rodney?" She pointed to the bite on her neck. "I'd love to know all the answers now rather than later."

Rodney quickly avoided eye contact wishing he hadn't said anything.

"What exactly did this Janus guy say?" Ronon asked.

"He said that whenever someone has been bitten, a parasite is injected into the body, that parasite re-writes the occupants chemistry. Once that transformation is complete the parasite dies, leaving a blood thirsty creature behind."

"How do we know, when the transformation is complete?"

"I don't know Ronon, but the funny thing is, when we met Torlian his eyes were blue, were as Sheppard's are red maybe the answer is there."

"Like… when Sheppard's eyes turn blue, the transformation will be complete." Rodney considered.

"Yes.

"Something else you all should know, seeing as I'm stuck in here with you. He also mentioned that whoever Sheppard bites, he has the ability to control them if he wishes to."

"I don't mean to be rude, but a few hours ago, Sheppard wanted you dead. Why change his mind?" Asked Rodney.

"I don't know. The Parasite must know everything Sheppard knows. Maybe John is still fighting for control and couldn't bring himself to do it. Teyla for instance, he could've easily have killed her yet didn't. But then he must've killed the guards who were with me."

"You said the Pilot was missing," added Ronon, "could it be possible he used him to kill the two guards? You said it yourself he can control his victims."

"Too many questions, not enough answers." Sighed Elizabeth as she sat down.

After five minutes silence McKay suddenly thought of something. "Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way."

Elizabeth turned to face him. "What do you mean?"

"Instead of finding a cure for Sheppard maybe we should be attacking the Parasite inside him. You said, once the Parasite dies the transformation is complete… what if it dies before the transformation is complete?"

Elizabeth's eyes lit up understanding what Rodney was getting at and waved a figure at him. "That's it." She then grabbed Rodney in a bear hug "The Virus needs to be passed on to the Parasite, and being small it wouldn't be able to counter attack the effects."

"You hope." Ronon added.

She let go of Rodney and nodded at Ronon. "Maybe that's what the Wraith were trying to achieve. They couldn't feed on them; even in the early stages of transformation so the only way to change that would be to kill the Parasite within using the Virus, only it was passed onto the host and it spread like wildfire killing most of them."

"Leaving just the full fledged Vampires behind, and seeing they didn't know what to do with them, they locked them up." Rodney finished.

"Exactly. Question is; if they couldn't do it, how are we supposed to be able to?" Finished Elizabeth.

"Right now we can't do anything while we're locked up ourselves." Rodney pointed out.

**Next Chapter: Escape**

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	35. Chapter 35: Escape

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This story seems to have taken on a life of it's own. Would love to know what you all think of it so far? Enjoy.

**Chapter Thirty-Five - Escape**

Elizabeth was beginning to get anxious, they had the answer they needed but while being stuck in the cell they had no way to put their theory to the test. "We have to find a way out of here."

"Play dead."

Not sure she heard right, Elizabeth spun her head round to face Rodney. "What?"

"Make it look like your dying."

"Come on Rodney, that's the oldest trick in the book."

"No listen, if they think you're dying they'll start to panic and they wouldn't have any choice to let us out to find a cure pronto, before any of them start to experience the same effects."

"But they're not going to."

"Yes, but they don't know that."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and lay down on her stomach in the middle of the cell. "This had better work Rodney."

Rodney looked at Ronon. "Your turn buddy, call someone here and Elizabeth you need to sound like you're dying."

Rodney heard Ronon moan his disapproval of the idea as he moved up to the bars and started to call out for some assistance while Elizabeth started to make fake noises.

The young girl they had seen earlier was walking past had heard them; she walked over to them and looked in to see Elizabeth clutching her stomach and crying in pain.

Rodney pretending to provide assistance spotted the girl and walked up to her and indicated the fact. "She's dying there's nothing I can do unless you tell your people to let us go."

"She was okay, earlier."

"She's not now, if this is happening to her, it could well happen to those of you who have been infected."

The young girl looked at him and then at Elizabeth. Nodded then ran off to find someone.

Four minutes later, their usual wannabe leader came up to them and looked in to see what the fuss was about.

The guy who had the key to the cell was also with him and he unlocked the door but held it firmly shut ordering Ronon and their security guards to move back from it before opening it.

Rodney was beginning to curse himself if they discovered this was all a playact they'd have the devil to pay.

Rodney locked eyes with Ronon looking for some help on what to do as the man who had opened the door, walked towards Elizabeth.

Elizabeth heard the man coming towards her and started swearing in her mind. The man stared poking her.

"Stop!" Cried Rodney.

Startled the man complied and looked at him.

Rodney tried to think of an excuse. "The infection has caused this, we don't know why and it could well happen to your people."

The man eyed him suspiciously, then without warning rolled Elizabeth onto her back.

Quickly feeling the movement Elizabeth grabbed a handful of straw and dirt in her hand and the minute she was facing him, she threw at his face.

The man screamed and covered his eyes as the dirt hit him.

The villager's leader rushed forward to help him, only to be stopped by Ronon who gave him a punch in the face, knocking him clean out.

As Elizabeth scrambled to her feet, she didn't see the man pull a sharp stone from his belt.

One of the guards however did, as the man made his move to attack her for revenge, the guard moved in and kicked the stone from his hands.

Elizabeth looked at him and nodded her thanks.

He returned the nod, before moving out of the cell with his comrade to secure the entrance.

"Quick thinking Elizabeth."

"No thanks to your 'ingenious' plan Rodney."

"Hey, it worked didn't it?"

"I'll answer that once we're clear of this area."

"We still need to find Sheppard." Added Ronon.

"We'll, come back for him once we have the cure in our hands and just hope he's still here when we do."

**Next Chapter: The Test**

"_Please read and review, thanks. Next chapter coming soon!" _Again don't forget to check out my new story (What Lies Beneath).


	36. Chapter 36: The Test

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**Chapter Thirty-Six - The Test**

After the briefing session had finished, which had taken place the minute everyone in Weir's team had returned to Atlantis, all those in the need to know were informed of the latest developments.

Elizabeth was the first to receive a medical check up, knowing John had infected her. She had the scanner set up around her as she laid on one of the beds in the Infirmary.

Carson watched the screen as the scanner did its work. "There's your little bugger."

Elizabeth turned her head to face the screen and saw a small red dot situated close to her heart.

"Do you think you can get rid of it?"

"Now we know the answer I hope so Elizabeth, from the test we've achieved with Major Lorne we now know what not to use."

-----

Carson had spent the last hour with his staff synthesizing a virus to help combat the parasite within those who had been infected.

Elizabeth sat staring at the prone form of Major Lorne while waiting in the Infirmary for the results.

Teyla was still asleep but Elizabeth was informed it wouldn't be long now before she woke up.

Carson walked in from his laboratory holding a syringe in his hands. "Well, here it is. You sure you want to be the first to try it out? We don't know the side effects it could have."

"On the assumption this will work I'm prepared to take that chance, Carson."

"Then you should know, that I have no idea how the parasite will react to this, so if you'd rather be asleep during the procedure let me know me now."

"What are the chances of it being potentially harmful?"

"Should you experience any pain I can't afford to give you any other drug to counteract it, in case it interfers with this one."

"I understand Carson, but it needs to be tested."

"That it does, I still think it should be tested on Major Lorne first rather than you."

"Unfortunately you've already given Major Lorne an overdoes of drugs, and like you just said…"

"I know, I know. So awake or asleep?"

"I think asleep would be best don't you?"

"Aye, it would."

Ten minutes later Elizabeth was sleeping as comfortably as possible on one of the Infirmary beds, while Carson was ready to begin the procedure.

Lifting up her right arm, he moved the syringe in his hands, only to pause, leaving the tip of the syringe hovering above her skin as he second-guessed if this was the right course of action.

He looked again at the scanner, to view the parasite on the screen. If this went wrong... His thoughts went back to the time he was testing the retrovirus; he shook that thought away.

He closed his eyes tight to pray it would work, opened them again, and then injected it.

Once he'd cleaned everything up afterwards, Carson moved back to her bedside to check to see how she was doing.

He found it strange that sweat was already beginning to appear on her forehead. He placed his hand on it to check her temperature, which appeared to be normal, just as the scanner read. Curiosity peeked and he scratched his head.

It was at this stage Rodney walked in to see how things were progressing. "What's the diagnosis Carson?"

"Slow going, it may be sometime before we get any real results."

Rodney pulled up a chair near the bed and sat down.

Carson looked at him as he did. "Shouldn't you be in the Control Room keeping an eye on things?"

"I'm on a well deserved coffee break."

"Aye, something we could all do with," replied Carson before turning his attention elsewhere. Teyla had got up from her bed and walked over to them.

"How you're feeling lass?"

"Better thank you Carson, what's been going on?"

"Let's go and grab that coffee Rodney and I will explain things to you Teyla once you're changed. I think you're well enough to leave now."

----

A half hour had passed when Carson received an urgent call from one of his staff members in the Infirmary.

He scooted from his chair in the cafeteria, as did Rodney and Teyla; and they rushed back. Leaving behind the curious glances from the personnel eating there.

The minute he stepped through the Infirmary doors he came face to face with one of his nurses and she tried to explain quickly to him. "Doctor. The antidote isn't working, it's tearing her apart."

Carson looked at Elizabeth and could see she was in pain.

He looked up at the scanner and his eyes widened in horror. "Oh crap, the little bugger has learnt from last time."

"What do you mean, Doctor?" Asked Teyla.

"The parasite; its using Elizabeth's immune system to fight off the drug, the effect is speeding up the transformation."

**Next Chapter: Forgotten Memories.**

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	37. Chapter 37: Forgotten Memories

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**Chapter Thirty-Seven - Forgotten Memories**

"How does it know how to do that?"

"I don't know Teyla, memories must be past down from each parasite to another and it's learnt how to adapt to the changes. Must be one of the survival techniques."

"Nurse, can you pass me some morphine over? At least that will ease the pain she must be experiencing right now."

"This didn't happen, when you ran other tests on Major Lorne?"

"His parasite probably didn't see them as a threat, Rodney."

Elizabeth suddenly started going into convulsions, Carson and Teyla helped to hold her down.

"It's killing her Carson, do something."

"What else can I do, McKay?"

"Give it something else to attack."

Carson was about to ask the nurse for something when the heart monitor flat-line. "No… not now Elizabeth, come on." Carson looked at the screen and could see that the parasite was gone.

Rodney did the same. "It worked, the parasite couldn't hold it off; either that or the transformation is complete."

"Right now it doesn't mater either way unless I can get her breathing again," Carson moved Rodney out of the way to begin the respiration procedure. The nurse stood by to help if needed."

Rodney and Telya waited at the foot of the bed, concern for their friend's safety in their eyes as the two medical staff members worked to bring her back to life.

"Come on Elizabeth." Whispered Rodney after a minute had passed and no signs of progress showed.

Rodney turned the other way when Carson announced that he was going to try the respatory machine one last time after the three previous attempts had failed.

"Clear!" Yelled the nurse.

Teyla watched as they hit her again, and again nothing happened. A tear fell down her right cheek as Carson packed away the machine and a solemn sadness filled his eyes.

Rodney couldn't bear to look at anyone and walked out of the room. The nurse was just writing down the time of death as instructed by Carson, while he began to cover up Elizabeth face with the bed cover, when a light beep could be heard from the scanner.

The heart monitor had started up again; Carson almost did a double take when he heard it again and quickly pulled back the covers. "That's it lass come on." He said as he took her hand and squeezed it tight to help push her on.

After a few seconds the heart monitor produced a more regular beat and Carson felt movement in her hand as though she tried to squeeze his back.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the movement and nodded to Teyla to let her know she was going to be ok.

Tears of joy flooded Teyla's eyes. Remembering Rodney had walked out the room she quickly ran of to find him to let him know.

He hadn't gone very far when she caught up with him, she found him crouched in a ball near the lift at the end of the corridor.

She ran up to him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder "Rodney… She's going to be okay."

Not sure he heard right, he looked up at her face whipping his own tears away at the same time. "She's okay, she's breathing again."

"But the monitor…"

"It started up again just as you left." Teyla helped him to his feet.

Both arrived back in the Infirmary just as Elizabeth's eyes started to open her eyes.

"You made it love," Carson said.

"I made what Carson, why am I here? What's been happening?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Flying back to Atlantis in the Puddle Jump…" Using her hands Elizabeth pushed herself up. "John where is he?"

"That was just before she was bitten." Rodney announced.

"That was almost twelve hours ago, you don't remember anything after that?" Carson asked as he pushed her to lie down again.

Elizabeth shook her head; her mind was a complete blank from the past twelve hours.

"I guess the parasite was more in control than we thought, you had one inside you Elizabeth. But it appears to be gone now."

"You can get rid of the one inside John?"

"I'll need to find an easier way to do so, but I think so, yes."

"Permission to go and find him, Doctor Weir."

"Permission granted Teyla, just be careful and bring him home."

"We will, coming Rodney?"

"Try and stop me."

**Next Chapter: Abandoned**

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	38. Chapter 38: Abandoned

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**Chapter Thirty-Eight - Abandoned**

The Puddle Jumper exited the Stargate and Rodney flew it to their previous landing position, near where John left his.

Once the machine had landed everyone stepped out into the open space, Rodney, Teyla, Ronon and three security guards.

Rodney looked around, as suspected he couldn't see any signs of John's Puddle Jumper, just the markings on the ground where it had been. "We're too late."

"Too late for what, Rodney?" Teyla asked.

"Jumper three has gone; either Sheppard has moved it or he's left the planet."

"Or it could be cloaked." Ronon suggested.

"Could be why our Jumper didn't pick it up." Rodney walked up to the edge of the flattened ground and filled the air around it with his hands; as suspect an empty space, retracting them he turn back to face the others. "It's definitely gone."

"Can you not check the last Gate address dialed on the DHD?" Teyla asked.

"I can't get the exact one; just the last few."

"It'll be a start McKay," Ronon looked towards the tree line; while talking to him, "while you do that, the rest of us will check the area just to be sure he's gone, he may have cloaked and moved the ship."

"You're leaving me alone? What if he or the villagers turn up?"

Ronon tapped a security guard on the shoulder. "You stay with him, rest of you with me."

With that Rodney watched them leave. Letting his shoulders slump he stalked over to the Puddle Jumper 'bad tempered' he soon took off once the guard had followed him in and flew it to the Stargate; where he would find the DHD."

-----

As Ronon led the others through the forest, they soon came upon the village they had discovered on their last trip; only this time it seemed deserted.

He motioned for everyone to stay alert, after which they spread out to search the area.

-----

Back at the DHD, Rodney had begun working on it.

Every time he heard a slight movement, like the rustling of trees in the wind; after the odd gust had whipped past, it made McKay feel nervous, half expecting John to jump out at him at any minute. "Get a grip, McKay," he muttered to himself.

-----

Teyla opened the door to one of the larger hut shaped buildings and carefully looked inside to see if it contained any occupants. She found no one.

She was about to close it when she heard someone start to cry, but it wasn't coming from within the round-hut she found; it sounded like the one next to it.

Closing the door Teyla moved over to the other hut; slowly but surely she opened the wooden door.

Once opened; there in the back of the room she could see a young girl who looked no older than seven and had long blond dirty hair; along with worn clothes. "Ronon!" Teyla shouted before entering the room.

Teyla inched her way over to the young girl, passing the table in the middle of the room. Teyla could see she was nervous and watched as she scurried as far back to the wall as she could. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."

The minute Ronon appeared in the doorway, the young girl immediately recognized him; she stood up and rushed past Teyla to the open door in an attempt to make it outside; but Ronon stopped her. "Whoa, Whoa." He grabbed her and picked her up.

"Don't hurt me." She cried, trying to get free.

"We won't; what happened here Lana?"

"You know her Ronon?" Teyla asked.

"Yes, she's the girl who jogged Doctor Weir's memory and gave us the answer we needed."

Teyla took hold of Lana after Ronon passed her over and she soon settled down. "Can you tell us what happened? Where has everyone gone?"

"They left with your man, through the blue ring," she paused to wipe her eyes from the tears and then looked at Ronon, "he came back here after you left and finished what he started."

"Our village is only small; I hid and he never found me again."

Lana started to cry again and Teyla hugged her tight. "We can't leave her here; do you think it'll be safe to take her back with us?"

Ronon ruffled Lana's hair with his hand to try and comfort her, as she started crying again. "Looks like we've got no other choice and anyway I guess we owe her one."

"Back where?" Lana asked through sniffs.

"Our home." Responded Teyla as everyone walked out the room.

-----

Having acquired the information needed from the planets DHD; everyone had gated back to Atlantis.

Elizabeth was still in the Infirmary under supervision when Ronon and Teyla brought Lana into the room.

Still in bed Elizabeth turned her head at their approach. "You two do know the risks of bringing someone back with you?"

"We do Doctor Weir, you have met Lana before; but you probably don't remember. Her village was attacked and it seems Colonel Sheppard has taken her people. We brought her here as she had no where else to go."

"She doesn't remember me?" Asked a curious Lana.

"Afraid not, sweetie." Elizabeth replied.

Teyla half glanced at Ronon. "We will happily look after her until her family is found."

"Okay, as soon as Carson has given her the all clear she's in your care. But only until that time."

"Agreed. Thank you Doctor Weir."

"Any clues as to where John might have left to?"

"Not yet," answered Teyla, "Doctor McKay uploaded the DHD information to his data pad of the last addresses dialed, we should have a few ideas soon. But I fear time is against us."

**Next Chapter: Broken Ties**

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	39. Chapter 39: Broken Ties

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**Chapter Nineteen: Broken Ties**

Fifteen minutes after Teyla and Ronon had left the room with Lana, Carson received an urgent call from the Control Room.

With everyone currently indisposed at present, Chuck was left keeping the place running. "Sorry to bother you Doctor Beckett, but the SGC have dialed in and are requesting to speak Doctor Weir."

Carson wasn't happy at having his patient being constantly interrupted. "Can they not dial back in a few days?"

"I'm sorry Doc, I've informed them that she is otherwise detained, but they insist upon seeing her."

Carson looked at Elizabeth's sleeping form. He slowly walked over to her and shook her shoulder to wake her up. "Elizabeth," she started to stir. "Sorry to wake you love but you have an urgent call from the SGC."

"No rest for the wicked." She replied groggily.

Carson tapped his mic. "She's awake Chuck, can you patch the call down here, to my computer."

"Will do Doc."

Carson helped Elizabeth out of bed and then they walked to his office and she sat down in front of the PC.

General Landry appeared on the monitor screen. "My apologies for disturbing you Doctor Weir, but the IOA are requesting an immediate update."

"They certainly know when to call," replied Elizabeth, "to be honest the latest situation isn't good."

Carson put a hand on Elizabeth shoulder and made sure Landry could see him. "Can I just interrupt you two there; may I stress that this conversation is limited to half hour. My patient has been through rather a lot recently."

"I understand your concern Doctor, this won't take long."

Elizabeth then began her run down of recent events.

-----

In a Science Lab McKay sat hunched over his computer as he scanned through the information he received from the DHD of the planet they recently visited.

He was able to call up four possible Gate addresses from the data stored on his pad. He saved the file and e-mailed it direct to the Control Room.

-----

Back in the Infirmary Elizabeth was just finishing the report. "…As of right now, we don't know where Colonel Sheppard is."

"Thank you Doctor Weir, you'll hear back from us within the hour. Get better soon Landry out." With that the screen went blank.

-----

Once Lana had cleaned up; Teyla showed her around parts of the city. She was amazed at the sites she saw and had never dreamt it possible that something this magnificent could be built. "How many live hear?"

"Truly, I do not know; a fair number." Answered Teyla as they turned a corridor.

It wasn't long before they had located Lana's room and Teyla opened the doors. "This is where you can stay."

Lana immediately rushed in and jumped on the bed. "Our huts are only half this size."

"Don't get too comfortable; remember it's only untill we find your parents."

"Wish I could stay after."

-----

Landry had called back within forty minutes and Elizabeth was unprepared for what she was about to hear. "I hereby inform you that the search for Colonel Sheppard is to be called off; effective immediately.

It took a moment for Elizabeth to process the information and she sat staring at the screen with her mouth hanging open; she couldn't believe what she was hearing. "They can't do that, the city needs him."

"I'm sorry Doctor Weir, but the way they see it. As far as the IOA are concerned Colonel Sheppard poses too much of a security risk to both the city and Earth."

"Give me a few minutes will you." Landry nodded and Elizabeth hit the mute button on the computer so neither of them could hear each other. "Carson, contact the Control Room and ask them to forward this message city wide.

"I'm sick and tired of the IOA pulling the strings all the time." Elizabeth opened up a side page on the monitor screen and typed down what she wanted transmitted.

Carson then did as Elizabeth asked and smiled at her, to let her know he was with her every step of the way.

Once the message had been delivered and she had received no complaints from the general population she reconnected the terminal.

"I'm sorry General but I'm not abandoning an important member of this expedition, due to the stupidity of the IOA," before Landry could protest she continued talking, "yes you can write that in your report; you can also wright this down. As of right now, Atlantis is no longer under jurisdiction of Earth authority.

**Next Chapter: Memories**

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	40. Chapter 40: Memories

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**Chapter Forty - Memories**

"You do understand what this means Doctor Weir," pointed out Landry, "you are officially declaring an act of treason, which could lead to war. Is it really worth throwing everything away for the sake of one man?"

"That one man General has saved this city on countless occasions, I'm not about to turn my back on him just so the IOA can have their way."

"None of us are." Added Carson.

Elizabeth looked at Carson and smiled, grateful at having received his support.

"So be it. As of right now, all security clearances to SGC have been revoked, the minute you step foot on Earth you will all be arrested for mutiny."

Before Elizabeth could say anymore, the screen went blank. "That went well."

"You sure this is what you want?" Asked Carson as he saw her back to the bed.

"Bit late for second guesses Carson, but yes, I owe Colonel Sheppard my life I'm not about to abandon him now."

-----

Lana woke up startled, from the nightmare she experienced. Ever since that night the stranger came into their village, she was plagued with bad dreams.

She got out of bed and walked to her door, and left her quarters in search for Teyla's.

When she found it she knocked on the door. She tried a few more times before it was answered and Teyla stood the other side wiping the sleep from her eyes.

The minute Tyela saw who was standing there, she let her in. "Lana, what are you doing up at such a late hour?"

"Can't sleep, I get bad dreams."

"This place can be a little intimidating." Replied Teyla as she sat Lana next to her on her bed.

"It's not that. Ever since my encounter with John…that is his name… right?" Teyla nodded her head, "I've not been able to sleep well."

"Come with me," Teyla took her hand and led her to the door. "Carson is helping with your illness, I'm sure he can help with a little sleep problem."

Lana pulled away from her. "I'd rather not sleep."

Teyla looked at her. "Dreams that bad ah?"

Lana nodded and folded her arms across her chest as some form of protection from the unknown.

"You know, they say it's good to talk about your dreams might make them go away."

Lana shook her head.

"I tell you what, let's go to the cafeteria and get a midnight snack. Might help you relax a bit."

Lana nodded and Teyla grabbed her gown from the wardrobe. "Let's go then"

-----

It was night-time John sat on top of a large bolder, which was situated on the edge of the shoreline, he looked out towards the horizon as he remembered his past.

He remembered faces of the people he came to know during his time on Atlantis. The adventures they had all been through together, all of which was now taken away from him.

But he didn't feel any regret just sadness.

He knew, when the time came he would once again return to Atlantis but not as its protector, but its destroyer.

It was at that moment John's eyes turned blue.

**Next Chapter: Found**

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	41. Chapter 41: Found

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**Chapter Forty-One – Found**

Next morning in the Gate Room, the Stargate activated. The minute Chuck received IDC confirmation he lowered the shield.

In Elizabeth's office; Lana sat in Doctor Weirs chair waiting patiently for Teyla and Ronon to return from the mission. The minute she heard the Gate activate she quickly got up and rushed over to Chuck. He nodded to her to let her know it was Teyla and Ronon returning. Jumping up and down she ran towards the Gate to greet them.

Rodney was the first to appear and she patiently waited for the others two to follow behind. Once through, the Gate shut down.

She ran up to them and looked Teyla in the eye. "Any luck?"

Lana's eyes fell when Teyla shook her head. "With two teams out, we'll find your parents, I promise." Teyla then looked at Chuck and gave him the all clear for him to dial the next address on Rodney's list.

-----

John waited by the Gate his end, which was situated on the beach. He knew it wouldn't be long, before his people found him. He watched, as the Gate started spinning.

Not long after that Rodney, Teyla and Ronon flagged by three security guards walked through. All of them stunned to see John just standing there waiting for them. "Took your time."

All of them automatically raised their weapons at him.

"You're coming with us." Growled Ronon as he steadily walked up to him.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." Replied John sarcastically as he raised his hands.

Once Ronon had cuffed them Teyla walked up towards him having looked around and not seeing anyone else. "Where is everyone?"

"Gone there own separate ways. Waiting for my order."

Ronon and Teyla looked at each other. "What order?" Asked Ronon.

John grinned at them. "You'll soon find out soon enough."

Ronon pushed John ahead of him and Rodney re-dialed the Gate, after which sent his IDC.

-----

Lana once again ran up to them once they made it through, the minute she saw John she ran up to him and started hitting him in the chest. "Where are they?"

He looked down to face her. "Haven't I dealt with you before?" He replied mockingly.

Teyla decided to intervene and pulled Lana away. "Now isn't the time Lana."

The guards escorted John away to the brig.

-----

"We found him, Doctor Weir." Announced Teyla as she entered the Infirmary.

Elizabeth sat up to talk to her. "Does he look any different than before?"

Teyla shook her head. "He hasn't shown otherwise, just likes to threaten people."

Elizabeth started to get out of bed. "I want to see him."

"I'm not sure Doctor Beckett would approve."

"No, I wouldn't, Teyla."

Elizabeth watched as Carson entered the room via his office. "I need to see him and I'm going."

"I think it's too dangerous, but I'm not going to make you see reason am I?" Carson watched as Elizabeth shook her head. He sighed. "Think you can walk to the cells okay?"

"I feel good enough to return to duty."

Carson knew that was meant as a hinted joke but wasn't going to give in that easy. "Don't push it Elizabeth."

"You can't blame a girl for trying Carson."

"Aye I can see that. Teyla you mind seeing Doctor Weir to the security cells, I need to finish up a few test I'm running."

"Of course not Doctor. What kind of tests are you running?"

"Something in Lana's blood results looked familiar, I'm just cross referencing it to see what it is."

"Is that to do with her illness?"

"No, Lana just has the simple case of the flu, which has nearly run its course. I'll know more soon."

Elizabeth got out of bed. "Keep me informed Carson." He nodded, then she and Teyla left the room.

**Next Chapter: Hidden Secrets**

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If you can't wait that long and if you haven't already, feel free checkout the first part of the sequel to this story **Atlanta**. "Found on my profiles page" warning it will contain some spoilers of what's to come for this one.


	42. Chapter 42: Hidden Secrets

**Slight amendment to one chapter, having noticed I doubled up on a name. Chapter 41 has been replaced with a new title. 'Found.'**

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**Chapter Forty-Two – Hidden Secrets**

Testing its strength, John slammed his right fist against the bars of his cell, then shaking his hand having hit the force field hard. After that he looked around the cell and saw the security camera tucked up in the corner of the room.

The sound of the forward door opening alerted him to someone else's presence. He turned and saw two people he once knew as friends walk into the room. The guards nodded to the arrivals as they moved into a position to talk to him.

John could sense something was different when he couldn't read the thoughts of the one he infected not long ago. "Closed your mind to me have you?"

"You can read the minds of those you infected too?"

"I wouldn't be able to control them if I couldn't, Teyla."

"I hate to break the news to you," interrupted Elizabeth, "but I no longer have a parasite within me."

"Then you are no longer part of my group-line, you will die with the rest of your kind."

It was at that moment John showed them what Elizabeth needed to know. His blues eyes glared them right in the face.

"No." Whispered Elizabeth. "We're too late."

"Too late to stop me, yes."

It was at that moment a strange noise could be heard, like the sound of fingernails being scraped down a blackboard. Everyone covered up their ears as it penetrated their eardrums, Elizabeth looked at John and could see it was him causing the sound. She yelled at the two guards. "Someone, stop him!"

Struggling to hold back the noise, the tallest of the two guards, moved to open the cell door. But John was ready for him and knocked him to the floor the minute the door was open. The other guard rushed him, but John retrieved the gun from the one he attacked and shot him in the leg.

Teyla moved forward and hit him with some of her best moves, but John was able to deflect them and eventually was able to provide one of his own, one she couldn't avoid and was thrown back into the outside bars of the cell.

The security camera had moved onto their position in the room and the security alarm had sounded. Retrieving the gun, which had fallen to the floor John shot at the camera, the light on it went out and sparks erupted from it.

Her dreams were becoming a reality. Elizabeth looked at those now lying on the floor at John's feet, before looking at him with hatred in her eyes.

"You know what the outcome will be Elizabeth, we've been down this road before. Only this time it's for real."

She looked at the gun wavering in his hands as he continued talking.

"Such a shame that it had to come to this, that you couldn't accept your fate at my side."

"I'm quite happy with the life I've got thank you. Rather than have someone rule it for me."

No one had noticed that Lana had stepped into the room. The minute the shot was fired from Sheppard's gun time froze.

Lana looked at the scene in front of her, she looked up at John's face; was about to touch his back when a male voice sounded. "Don't interfere Lana, now is not the time."

Lana looked around her. "But Father."

"No! Now is not the time. Remember your dreams."

Lana let her arm drop to her side and disappeared like a ghost. After which time returned to normal.

From the ground Teyla stirred from the brief knockout, immediately alerted by the noise of the gun being fired. Seeing its direction and being near Elizabeth she used her feet and kicked Elizabeth's out from under hers.

Elizabeth landed heavily on her back as the bullet whizzed overhead. Soon after, the room was swarming with security officers. Seeing this John quickly morphed into a bat and flew out the room.

**Next Chapter: Déjà vu**

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	43. Chapter 43: Déjà vu

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**Chapter - Forty-Three – Déjà vu**

Teyla turned to the guards as she helped Elizabeth up from the floor. "Find him!" They obeyed the order and spread out after John. She then turned to face Elizabeth. "Are you okay?"

A little shaken, Elizabeth nodded. "A little too close for comfort. If you ask me."

Teyla smiled. "You will have to stop making a habit of it."

"Hey." Responded Elizabeth a little sarcastically. "It's not my fault John holds a grudge against me."

"I feel with John loose, you should have a guard with you at all times."

"Not going to argue with that one, but I'm not going back to the Infirmary." She indicated her clothes. "It will be the first place he will look for me, if he tries again."

Teyla was going to argue the case, but thought better of it. "I'll let you explain to Doctor Beckett then."

"Deal." It was then Elizabeth remembered something from her dreams when she was in a coma, she grabbed Teyla by the arm. "Come on, I know where John will be heading."

"You do?"

"Yes, remember when I slipped into a coma, John was feeding me false dreams." Teyla nodded and Elizabeth continued explaining. "John made an attempt to initiate a ZPM overload, in an attempt to destroy the city."

"You think that is what Colonel Sheppard is planning now?"

"I'm sure of it."

Teyla activated her earpiece to contact security. "Search teams this is Teyla. Be advised Colonel Sheppard may attempt to gain access to the Power Room."

Elizabeth continued walking out the room, but Teyla stopped her. "I think it will be a lot safer for you to remain in your quarters?"

"I'm not hiding Teyla. I may be a prime target, but everyone's life is at risk if John completes his task. Not just our own."

Suddenly the city's com system activated and an unfamiliar voice could be heard over the intercom. "Doctor's Weir and Beckett. Please report to the Control Room immediately."

"Shouldn't Chuck be in charge of Gate Room operations?" Questioned Elizabeth.

Sensing something was wrong the pair of them rushed towards the Control Tower.

-----

Upon arrival they could see the activate gate and Chuck was being helped onto a Gunnery by Becket's medical team. Two more guards were also being attended too.

Elizabeth's eyes widened when she saw who stood in the middle of the Gate Room. 'Surely Earth wouldn't try to re-take the city so soon; not with the current threat hanging over their shoulder.'

She started to make her way towards the group, only to be stopped on top of the staircase, as one of her own soldiers, whom tried to warn her not too proceed. "Sorry Ma'am; they got through having uploaded a virus to shut down the gate shield."

Nodding she continued forward, the guard followed.

The middle of the three guards stepped forward. "Dr. Elizabeth Weir I am here to place you under arrest for treason against Earth government."

The guard behind Elizabeth immediately raised his weapon as one of the intruders stepped forward to cuff Weir's hands.

It was then the city's warning systems activated.

**Next Chapter: Sides**

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	44. Chapter 44: Sides

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**Chapter Forty-Four - Sides**

Elizabeth quickly stepped back into the protection of her guard and yelled angrily at the intruders. "Have you any idea what you've done?"

The man who first spoke answered her question. "My duty is what I am doing, and you'll make it a lot easier if you don't resist arrest."

Elizabeth guard stood firm; he readied his gun to show he was serious about firing his weapon, when the man holding the cuffs tried again. He watched as Doctor Weir continued talking.

Elizabeth made a note, to commend her guard for his bravery when this was all over. Providing they all get out of it. "By disabling the gate shield you have left Earth vulnerable, should the Wraith attack the city."

"Just as well they have no immediate plans too."

----

Carson was just finishing off helping one of the wounded guards in the Control Room, when he could see the standoff situation in the Gate Room and quickly rushed down the staircase; the minute a nurse had taken over his position.

Once at the bottom Carson moved intervene. "Gentlemen please, my patient cannot be moved at this time."

The guard didn't even bother to acknowledge Carson's approach as he continued to stare at Elizabeth, making sure she didn't try anything unexpected. "I'm sorry Doc, but orders are orders. Doctor Weir is to be arrested on site. No acceptations."

"Then I must remind you, that on health grounds, we medical Doctors have the right to overrule that command if a patient isn't fit enough. Doctor Weir has just been treated for an infection, which nearly killed her and shouldn't be moved."

The guard wasn't sure if to believe his words, considering she was moving about now and looked at him with suspicion in his eyes, but decided to be a little lenient considering the clothes she was wearing and motioned for his men to back-off a little. "If that's the case, shouldn't she be in the infirmary and not moving about."

Cason locked arms with Elizabeth, to steer her in that direction. "Aye and that's just where we're heading."

Elizabeth stopped Carson; no one seemed affected by the cities alarms system going off and tried to change their immediate situation. "Wait. We should be evacuating the city, not making a fuss over who's right and who's wrong."

"Carson, contact Rodney, see if he can shed some more light on the ZPM situation."

Carson did as Elizabeth asked, seeing as she didn't have her own earpiece in at the time. "Rodney, report current situation please."

-----

Rodney was in the Power Room, frantically working at the controls when his earpiece made him jump. _"Rodney, report current situation please."_ He quickly responded. "Carson, what are you doing on the line? I've been trying to contact the control… Never mind. Tell Elizabeth situation critical, not only has Sheppard initiated a ZPM overload, Zelenka has informed me the Wraith are on the way, ETA." There was a pause on the line as Rodney double-checked the time. "ETA one hour."

-----

'How did they get so close?' thought Carson as he shot a glance at Elizabeth, knowing she heard every word Rodney said.

Elizabeth could see the lead guard was wavering a little due to the new information. "We need to evacuate. Now!"

"Evacuate back to Earth?"

Elizabeth shook her head, knowing full well, it wasn't possible. "We can't, it'll draw to much power from the ZPM. The city will explode before we reach the other end, we need to dial an address in close proximity."

The city suddenly began shaking throwing everyone of balance. "Now what?" Questioned the lead guard.

"The Star-drive has been activated." Replied Elizabeth. Something Torlian mentioned about their kind fighting the Wraith suddenly re-surfaced. "Carson, let me talk to McKay."

Carson removed his earpiece and handed it to Elizabeth, she immediately put in her ear and began talking to Rodney. "Rodney listen to me… if the ZPM explodes, how much damage will it cause?"

"_With the Star-drive active, enough damage to wipe-out everything within a…" _Rodney paused on the end of the line, knowing what Elizabeth was thinking._ "Enough damage to knockout the Wraith as well once they get here."_

"How many ships are we looking at?"

"_One second let me confirm the number, with Zelenka."_

Everyone in the Gate Room, waited anxiously for Rodney to get back to them. _"They're not taking any chances this time. Forty."_

**Next Chapter – Reverberation**

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	45. Chapter 45: Reverberation

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Enjoy :)

**Chapter Forty-Five Reverberation**

Care to revaluate your recent comment about the Wraith?" Elizabeth checked the guard's rank and name on his label. "Colonel. Jefferson."

Jefferson shifted little uneasy on his feet and looked at everyone in turn, before ordering his men to stand down. "Lower your guns."

Elizabeth took a relaxed breath before nodding at Jefferson. "Thank you."

-----

Lana took it upon herself to keep an eye on John, despite her 'true' Father's warning. Having followed him to the Power Room and watch him trigger an overload in their ZPM, they were now in the Infirmary. This happened whilst the standoff in the Gate Room took place.

John stalked around the darkened room as though he was looking for someone. Lana kept to the shadows and could see he had stopped at the foot of a bed; that someone had woken up and together they made an earry noise. Immediately she covered her ears, the noise soon becoming unbearable and she sat down on the floor head between her knees, in an attempt to block out the sound.

Two medical staff members helping Chuck soon arrived and were surprised to see what was taking place. One nurse told the other to wait, before entering and slowly but carefully approached them. Cautiously calling out their names whist trying to block out the noise. "Colonel Sheppard, Major Lorne?"

The other nurse in the meantime contacted security as both Sheppard and Lorne responded to their names and John answered the nurse with glowing blue eyes. "The Wraith will heed our call and when they come, we will destroy them."

Lana stayed hidden to the side of a nearby bed; as John and Lorne morphed into bats and flew towards the nurses; both of them screaming as they came nearer. Lana quickly covered up her eyes, not wishing to see what was taking place.

------

The minute the coast was clear, Lana quickly made her way-out the room and past Chuck who was still lying on the bed in the middle of the doorway. Even though she wanted to help him, make sure he'd be okay; she needed to warn someone what had just taken place.

She was making her way to the Control Tower when she bumped into Ronon, as it happened he was heading in the same direction; the minute the cities alarm system started ringing. It looked like he had just come from the training room, which explained what took him so long. Lana quickly flagged him down. "Ronon, Sheppard and Lorne, where in the Infirmary, making a funny noise, two of the nurses have just been infected."

Ronon was suddenly torn between helping those in the Control Tower and stopping John. "Where is John now?"

"They both morphed into flying creatures and left, I don't know where they went? But I need to let Doctor Weir know, what John said."

That settled his dilemma, if he was no longer there; there was only one place they needed to be. "Stick close to me."

-----

"What is she doing in the Gate Room?" Pointed out Jefferson, when he saw Lana and Ronon running towards them.

The anger from the strangers voice automatically caused Lana to scurry behind Ronon's back to try and keep out of site.

Ronon defended her right to be there. "Hey if it wasn't for Lana, we wouldn't have found the cure which saved Doctor Weir's life. Tell them what you saw Lana."

Elizabeth waited for Lana to tell them, whilst the newcomers waited impatiently and could see she was a little hesitate because of this and tried to encourage her; bending down to her height. "What did you see Lana?"

"John, he and someone called Major Lorne, were making a funny noise in the Infirmary not long after John did something to a shinny ornament."

"The ZPM. You neglected to contact someone the minute you spotted him?" Questioned Jefferson angrily.

Elizabeth glared at him angrily in an attempt to shut him up and it worked. "Continue. Please."

"They infected two of the nurses and all four of them left. But before they did John said 'The Wraith will heed our call and when they come, we will destroy them.' That's all I saw."

"Umm, I wonder if that's the same noise we heard him make in the brig?" Asked Teyla as she had now joined them, having stayed back in case needed. "We don't know for sure how acute Wraith hearing can be."

"And whilst we've been fighting each other. John's building himself an army to fight the Wraith." Pointed out Elizabeth. "Carson. It took John weeks before he fully transformed, how come it was quicker for Major Lorne?"

"It would seem these Parasites are capable of adapting quickly to their environment. It was one thing I noticed when I injected you with the cure. It was fighting it off. Quicker then that its predecessors would've been able too."

"So it's safe to say, the more he infects people the quicker the change?"

"Yes and the more he feeds the stronger he gets."

**Next Chapter: Advances**

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	46. Chapter 46: Advances

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**Chapter Forty-Six - Advances**

Throughout the city, John and his minions where systematically infecting people at random, whilst search teams were out on the hunt for him.

In the Gate Room, Elizabeth organized the evacuation of non-essential personnel via the Stargate to the Alpha site.

Despite Elizabeth insurance that it couldn't be fixed without Sheppard access code, Rodney was in the Power Room trying to stop the ZPM overload.

Carson insisted that he returned to the Infirmary to try and work on administrating the cure in one sweep before the infection became impossible to stop. Elizabeth agreed but only if armed guards accompanied him.

Ronon had joined the search for John. Whilst Teyla walked Lana back to her quarters where she'll be safe and picked up a change of clothes for Elizabeth on the way.

Teyla palmed open the door to Lana's room. Just as it opened they heard two people walking up the corridor towards them. Turning round to see, Teyla sensed something strange about them and ushered Lana into the room. "Take these." She handed Lana Elizabeth's clothes. "And stay well back from the door."

Wasting no time, Lana did as asked and Teyla walked in backwards to keep an eye on the people following them and could see they had picked up their pace. Their eyes soon glowed, seeing this Teyla immediately palmed the door to close once she was in Lana's room.

Teyla hadn't noticed John was already in the room and had taken hold of Lana round the waist and lifted her up of the ground. Lana was kicking and trying to scream to warn Teyla as he held onto her.

Teyla could now see the predicament she was in when she turned round to make sure Lana was ok. Quickly she trained her P-90 on John. Only unknown to her, Lorne was also in the room and despite Lana trying to warn her, he had crept up behind her and snatched the gun away before locking his arms around her throat.

Lorne locked eyes with John and he nodded. Grinning he morphed into a bat.

Teyla scurried back and away from where she stood, trying to keep a lookout for Lorne as he flew around the room, before heading towards her.

Teyla quickly activated her earpiece to call for assistance, when suddenly the room filled with white-light.

----

All over Atlantis, everyone stood frozen as the white-light engulfed the entire city.

People who were in the early stages of infection were being purged of it; small particles could be seen swimming around them before vanishing into thin air. The light intensified around John and Lorne as well as others who had the ability to morph into bats and when the light had gone, they collapsed to the floor.

Lana fell down with John and landed on top of him. Exhausted from what happened she stayed where she fell.

Dazed and confused Teyla quickly rushed over to see if she was all right. "Lana. Are you ok, what just happened?"

"Everyone here is better now." With that, she passed out.

Teyla quickly scooped Lana into her arms and rushed her to the Infirmary, being sure to seal the door to keep John and Lorne, both in human form, locked in.

Carson was scratching his head trying to figure out what just happened, having felt the effects of the white-light, when Teyla came rushing in. "Doctor Beckett, it's Lana, something is wrong with her."

Spinning round at Teyla's voice, he caught Teyla placing Lana on a bed. He moved over to see what was wrong. "What happened, lass?"

"I think she's responsible for whatever just happened. One minute, John and Lorne had us cornered, next both them and others infected were out cold.

Carson quickly checked her heart rate, before placing her under the scanner. "I ran some blood tests on her when she first arrived, there was something odd about the results I got back, but couldn't figured out what it was."

"She said. Everyone here is better now. I assume she's talking about those infected."

Not believing his eyes, from what the scanner was showing him, he quickly ran the results again. "I should've spotted this sooner."

Teyla tried to spot what he was on about. "Seen what sooner?"

"She's part Ancient, not only has she got the ATA gene, but other abnormalities we humans don't have."

"How can that be? Surely she would have said something."

"She probably didn't know herself. The city certainly didn't pick it up, like it did with some off us when we arrived."

"But that means the people from her planet could've been Ancients too?"

Suddenly the whole city shook as it came under fire from a Wraith Hive ship

**Next chapter: Battleground**

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	47. Chapter 47: Battleground

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**Chapter Forty-Seven - Battleground**

Dr. Weir's voice came over the cities internal speakers, as another barrage of enemy firepower struck the city. _"This is Dr. Weir, I need all remaining personnel to evacuate immediately. This base has b…."_

Carson and Teyla looked at each other when Weir's voice cut out unexpectedly.

Carson quickly started gathering essentials as Teyla fussed over the young girl, brushing her hair away from her face. "Doctor. I should go to the gate room and find out what's happening."

Carson shoved a few things into a bag, before rushing back to Lana and picking her up in his arms. "We should all go. It's safe to move her, we should do as instructed."

Teyla had tried before, to convince Lana it was safe to go with other members of the expedition previously, but she didn't what to be parted from anyone again.

Teyla nodded in agreement and followed Carson out.

-----

Rodney was in the power room when the order to evacuate was interrupted. As Dr. Weir predicated he hadn't had much luck with the ZPM and it was nearing complete overload and he knew the cities shield would be useless, as a defence against the Wraith. Conceding defeat Rodney also made his way to the gate room, as he promised Elizabeth he would.

-----

John was just starting to come round when the last words were transmitted over the intercom. He looked around the room and spotted Lorne unconscious near the exit. Groggily he moved over to check if he was ok. He was.

Seconds after, flash images of his past came flooding into his mind and he couldn't help but clutch hold of his head, when he saw the terrible things he had done under the alien influence. It was then he knew the source of the sound that was ringing in his mind. It was the cities warning system, he had set the ZPM to overload no doubt due to self-destruct any minute now.

Picking himself up of the floor, John rushed over to the door and palmed it open only to find it wouldn't corporate and he slammed his right fist onto the door in anger. "Damn it."

----

Five Wraiths; four of them soldiers now occupied the gate room, one of them dead killed by Jefferson's soldiers whom where also dead, feed upon by the Wraith.

The lead Wraith was grinning triumphantly as he looked down at the unconscious form of Elizabeth Weir. He bent down and turned her onto her side as she lay in the middle of the gate room floor. Elizabeth was the only one who lay untouched.

"Sweet victory." Hissed the Wraith as he moved to pick up Elizabeth in his arms, rather loosely. "My queen has plans for you."

Outside in the corridors, Teyla, Carson, Ronon and Rodney all bumped into each other. Ronon was a little grumpy having been pulled form the hunt. "I didn't find John." He informed them.

Teyla had completely forgotten about informing Ronon of the news that she had found him, and that he was locked in Lana's room. She stopped in her tracks and everyone turned to see why. "He and Lorne are in Lana's room." With that she bolted back down the corridor, Ronon yelling out her name as she left.

"She knows what she's doing." Informed Carson as he continued to rush to the gate room, Rodney close on his heels. It took a moment, but Ronon knew Telya could lookout for herself; the others needed someone to watch their backs.

All of them arrived in the gate room just in time to see a Wraith beam sweep two people up, one of the being Elizabeth.

Rodney ran in, yelling her name as she disappeared in the beam of light, that in turn attracted the attention of the remaining Wraith and a battle was fort between the two groups.

Carson quickly ducked, and placed Lana behind a console before helping out his colleagues. Ronon tossed him a Wraith stunner he had retrieved from the dead Wraith, whilst he used his own gun. Rodney used a 9mil he had picked up on the way to the power room.

-----

Teyla had reached Lana's quarters and was able to open the door to reveal an angry John Sheppard whom bolted passed her the minute it was open. Ignoring Lorne who was still out cold, she ran after him. "Sheppard!"

John had eventually reached the power room, by the time Teyla had caught up with him the ZPM overload had been stopped.

John breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Teyla. "Just in time. Another minute and we'd have been tossed."

Teyla activated her earpiece to contact Rodney "Doctor McKay, you can raise the shield. The overload has been stopped."

Rodney quickly responded. _"By whom?"_

"Colonel Sheppard. It looks like everyone is back to normal."

"_That maybe."_ Answered Rodney. _"But we have another problem on our hands now…."_

Teyla and John glanced at each other as they waited for the bad news.

"_Looks like the Wraith didn't come for a fight after all. The have just taken Elizabeth." _

**Next Chapter: Counting the Losses**

TBC

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	48. Chapter 48: Counting the Losses

Apologies for the long wait for this final chapter. Well not quite the final as you will soon find out ;)

Big thanks to all those who have stuck by; read and reviewed this story much appreciated.

And thanks to lakewater for reminding me about this. Enjoy :)

* * *

**Chapter Forty-Eight: Counting the Losses**

With the Wraith now gone, those who had evacuated during the threat had returned home. All of them somewhat confused as to what had taken place.

John had been cleared from the infirmary after a medical examination and was cleared of any alien infection that maybe inhabiting his body; same with everyone else who had been infected and he was under supervision for the next forty-eight hours to make sure there were no side effects.

They had lost many good people in the fight against this vampire kind. Most of whom John couldn't help but feel was lost to them because of him.

He stood on the balcony outside the gateroom and watched as the full moon shone bright in the night sky. "I'll find you." He whispered silently as his thoughts strayed to Elizabeth's kidnap by the Wraith.

He had no idea why Elizabeth was important to the Wraith, why she was the only one taken amongst all those who hadn't then evacuated.

The Wraith had left the system long before they had time to go after them. Now they could be anywhere. He just hoped she would survive long enough for them to find her.

Without Earth's help, it wasn't going to be easy. Earth government refused to talk to them for they had been classified a security threat because of the infection. Despite the fact it has now been naturalized.

Teyla walked out onto the balcony and walked up next to him. "Everyone has settled in again." John nodded to the news and she continued talking. "Lana has asked to stay here, since she has no where else to go. She feels her time here isn't yet over."

Raising an eyebrow John turned to face Teyla. "What did she mean by that?"

"I wish I knew John. She seems unsure about a lot of things, like who she really is."

"Didn't Carson say she was part Ancient?"

"He did. But apparently she is also part human. I have never heard of a crossbreed between your people and theirs before."

"A hybrid?" Question John. "I take it, it's not mentioned in any prophecies you know of?"

"There is no reference to a case such as this. However she remembers her real name."

John waited to here that name.

"Atlanta."

**The End**

The End is just the beginning ;) See the next instalment Atlanta for more. (First Chapter already added to profile)


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